- Born
- Died
- Birth nameEdmund Percival Hillary
- Height1.88 m
- Edmund Hillary was born on July 20, 1919 in Tuakau, Auckland, New Zealand. He was married to June Mulgrew and Louise Mary Rose. He died on January 11, 2008 in Auckland, New Zealand.
- SpousesJune Mulgrew(December 21, 1989 - January 11, 2008) (his death)Louise Mary Rose(September 3, 1953 - May 31, 1975) (her death, 3 children)
- Along with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, he was one of the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest on 29 May 1953.
- Appointed a KBE in 1953 and awarded the Order of New Zealand in 1987.
- Has three children: Sarah, Peter and Belinda. Belinda and her mother died in a plane crash in May 1975.
- He and Tenzing made the final assault on Everest as a team, and were reluctant to disclose which man was first to actually set foot on the peak. Hillary took photographs of Tenzing standing on the summit because Tenzing did not know how to use a camera. Both men eventually revealed in their memoirs that Hillary was the first to step onto the summit.
- Apiarist 1936-1943 and 1951-1970; KBE 1953; Polar Medal 1958; New Zealand High Commissioner to India, Bangladesh and Nepal 1985-1988; ONZ 1987; KG 1995.
- We knocked the bastard off. [on his successful ascent of Mt Everest, quoted in the London Sunday Times, 21 July 1974]
- Better if he had said something natural like, Jesus, here we are. [Commenting on 'Neil Armstrong''s 1969 message from the moon, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."]
- I am hell-bent for the South Pole - God willing and crevasses permitting. [Comment eight days before he reached the South Pole via an overland route, 5 January 1958]
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