Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012)
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.
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.