Edmund Hillary: First Man to Summit Mount Everest Dies at 88

Sir Edmund Hillary was a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer. Born on July 20, 1919, in Auckland, he began climbing in the Southern Alps as a young man.

On May 29, 1953, he and the Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Hillary later reached the South Pole overland in 1958 as part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. He was knighted in 1953.

He devoted decades to building schools and hospitals in Nepal through the Himalayan Trust. Hillary died of heart failure in Auckland on January 11, 2008, at age 88. New Zealand gave him a state funeral.

Achievements: First to summit Everest (1953), Knight of the Garter.

Birth: July 20, 1919 - Auckland, New Zealand.

Profession: Mountaineer and explorer.

Interesting Facts: His face appears on the New Zealand five-dollar note.