Edmund Hillary (born 1919) was one of the greatest explorers and mountaineers of the 20th century.

Edmund Hillary was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on July 20, 1919. He spent his childhood in Tuakau, a rural area just south of Auckland where he went to the local primary school. Later he traveled daily to the city for secondary schooling. He discovered his joy in the mountains on a school trip to Mount Ruapehu, and it never left him.

During the 1940s he made many climbs in New Zealand, particularly in the Southern Alps. He quickly became recognized for his daring, strength, and reliability. Then came climbs in Europe which brought the invitation to join Sir John Hunt's expedition to Everest in 1953. It is history that Hillary and his Nepalese Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay (who died in 1986 at the age of 71) were the first to climb Everest, reaching the summit on May...