At 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand
and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal, become the first
explorers to reach the summit of Mount Everest, which at
29,035 feet above sea level is the highest point on earth.
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach Everest summit.
Mount McKinley
On June 7, 1913, Hudson Stuck, an Alaskan missionary, led the
first successful ascent of Denali (formerly known as Mt. McKinley),
the highest point on the North American continent at 20,320 feet.
Stuck, an accomplished amateur mountaineer, was born in London
in 1863. After moving to the United States, in 1905 he became archdeacon of the Episcopal Church in Yukon, Alaska. Stuck
traveled Alaska’s difficult terrain to preach to villagers and
establish schools.
Hudson Stuck
(November 4, 1863 – October 10, 1920)
Stuck (right) and the naturalist John Muir.
At 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing
Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal, become the first explorers to reach the summit
of Mount Everest, which at 29,035 feet above sea level is the highest point
on earth. The two, part of a British expedition, made their final assault on
the summit after spending a fitful night at 27,900 feet. News of their
achievement broke around the world on June 2, the day of Queen Elizabeth
II’s coronation, and Britons hailed it as a good omen for their country’s
future.
SANDY KOZEL
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy
(May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963)
John F. Kennedy served as the 35th president of the United States
from January 1961 until his assassination in November 1963. As a
member of the Democratic Party, he represented Massachusetts in
the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate prior to becoming
president.
TIM MAGUIRE
On this day in 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin
E. Aldrin, Jr. became the first men to walk on the moon.
Neil Alden Armstrong Buzz Aldrin
(Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.)
On this day in 1976, America’s Viking I robot spacecraft made a successful landing on Mars.
A Viking lander being tested in the Mojave Desert prior to launch.
On this day in 1944, Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler cheats death as a
bomb planted in a briefcase goes off, but fails to kill him. Hitler
(second from left) Shows Mussolini the Destroyed Barracks at
"The Wolfschanze" shortly after the assassination attempt.
Mountaineer Sir Edmund Percival Hillary
(July 20, 1919 – January 11, 2008)
Musician Carlos Santana is 71 years old today.
Guitarist Carlos Santana blended rock with Latin American
music and fronted Santana. He won the Best Rock Album
and the Album of the Year Grammys for Supernatural, two
of the eight total Grammys he won in 2000.
