Edmund Hillary

1919 – 2008 · died at about 89^[1][2]

Exploration

Fun Facts About Edmund Hillary

• Edmund Hillary left no photo of himself on the summit of Everest. He photographed Tenzing Norgay there, and according to Tenzing, Hillary simply declined to have his own picture taken.^[1]
• Hillary was a beekeeper with his father and brother, tending 1,600 hives and taking 12 to 100 bee stings a day. He kept bees in summer and climbed in winter.^[1]
• In 1985 Hillary flew with Neil Armstrong to the North Pole, becoming the first man to stand at both poles and on the summit of Everest.^[1][3][4]
• Hillary's party reached the South Pole overland in 1958, the first to do so since Amundsen and Scott and the first ever using motor vehicles.^[1][5][6]
• Hillary was so terrified of proposing to Louise Mary Rose that he relied on her mother to propose on his behalf.^[1]
• On an expedition that searched for the yeti, Hillary brought back three "Yeti scalps" from remote temples. Two turned out to be from bears and one from a goat antelope.^[1]
• Edmund Hillary was alive at the same time as Sarah Bernhardt — their lives overlapped for 4 years (1919–1923).^[1][2][7][8]
• Edmund Hillary shares a birthday with Gregor Mendel: both were born on July 20.^{[1][2][9][10]}

Sir Edmund Percival Hillary was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, which was led by John Hunt. From 1985 to 1988, he served as New Zealand's High Commissioner to India and Bangladesh and concurrently as Ambassador to Nepal.^[1]

Contemporaries

Nelson Mandela

89 yr overlap

Ingmar Bergman

88 yr overlap

Naguib Mahfouz

87 yr overlap

Gerald Ford

87 yr overlap

Rosa Parks

86 yr overlap

Stan Lee

86 yr overlap

Pope John Paul II

85 yr overlap

Ronald Reagan

85 yr overlap

Bob Hope

84 yr overlap

Jimmy Carter

84 yr overlap

George H. W. Bush

84 yr overlap

Margaret Thatcher

83 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Edmund Hillary

When was Edmund Hillary born?

Edmund Hillary was born on July 20, 1919, and died on January 11, 2008.

How old was Edmund Hillary at death?

Edmund Hillary was born on July 20, 1919, and died on January 11, 2008, at age 88.

What was Edmund Hillary known for?

Edmund Hillary was known for: First to summit Mount Everest. Sir Edmund Percival Hillary was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, which was led by John Hunt. From 1985 to 1988, he served as New Zealand's High Commissioner to India and Bangladesh and concurrently as Ambassador to Nepal.

Who was alive at the same time as Edmund Hillary?

Edmund Hillary's closest contemporary was Nelson Mandela. Their lives overlapped for 89 years.