First known summit of Mount Everest - May 30, 1953

On this day in 1953, Nepalese sherpa Tenzing Norgay and climber Edmund Hillary became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the highest mountain above sea level. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio hi um Eves Welcome to This Day in
History Class, a show that reveals a little bit more
about history day by day. Today is made thirteen. The

(00:23):
day was made thirtieth, nineteen fifty three. Just before midday,
Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Nepoli Sherpa Tenzing Norgay
reached the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point above
global means sea level. The pair became the first recorded
people to summit the mountain, and since then thousands of

(00:44):
people have attempted to climb Everest. Mount Everest is located
in the Himalayas in Nepal in Tibet, is the highest
mountain on Earth above sea level. The climb to the
top of the mountain is extremely challenging and dangerous. Oxygen
levels are low at the summit, and the weather is
cold and unpredictable. The first recorded attempt to climb out

(01:07):
Everest happened in nineteen one, when a British expedition tricked
miles across the Tibetan plateau to the bottom of the mountain.
They had to cut their climbs short when a storm
broke out, but mountaineer George Lee Mallory was determined to
complete the climb. Mallory, along with George Finch and Jeffrey Bruce,
took a shot at the climb the next year, but

(01:29):
did not make it to the top. Later in ninet
Mallory attempted to summit Everest again, but the climb ended
in disaster when several sharpers died in an avalanche. Two
years later, climber Edward Norton approached the summit without using
artificial oxygen, setting a world altitude record but not reaching

(01:49):
the top. That same year, Mallory and climber Andrew Irvine
sent off on an attempt to reach the summit, but
the two were never seen alive again, and Mallory's body
was found on the mountain. In nineteen more people attempted
to summit Everest via Tibet and then Nepal. The north

(02:10):
route up Everest through Tibet was closed and Nepaul only
allowed one trip from the south annually. Britain had DIBs
on nineteen fifty three, France was set for nineteen fifty four,
in Switzerland for nineteen fifty five. In nineteen fifty two, Tensig,
Nor Gay and Raymond Lambert attempted the feet and made

(02:31):
it to just below the South summit, but they had
to turn around for supplies. The next year, a British
expedition under the command of Colonel John Hunt was put together.
New Zealander's Edmund Hillary and George Lowe, as well as
Sherpa Tenzi Norgay, were part of the expedition. The climbers
had specially equipped clothing, radio equipment, and oxygen systems. The

(02:55):
team had brought three hundred and sixty two porters, twenty sherpas,
and ten thousand pounds of luggage. On March tent the
nineteen fifty three British Everest expedition set out from Catman
Do in April and May. They ascended the mountain on
the night of May nine. Hillary and Norgay, the second

(03:17):
assault team, prepared for the climb to the summit. Tensing
had made six summit attempts before this one. Their oxygen
supply was short and the pair would have to do
with three liters a minute rather than the four they
had planned for. They ate sardines, jam and honey, and
drank hot water with women. By six thirty in the morning.

(03:38):
On mat Hillary and Norgay left camp for the summit
in negative seventeen degree fahrenheit weather with two twenty pounds
cylinders of oxygen, one of which was only partially filled.
By nine in the morning, they reached the South summit
and at eleven thirty a m. The two became the

(03:59):
first to some at Mount Everest. Hillary took three photos
of his climbing partner and laid down across Tensing left
some sweets at the top of the mountain. They made
their way back down to camp fifteen minutes after they
reached the summit. Queen Elizabeth the second night at Hillary
for the achievement. Norgay received the British Empire Medal for

(04:21):
the feat. Hillary went on more adventures, including to the
North and South Poles. He established the Himalayan Trust and
assisted Sherpas in Nepal. Norgay became the first director of
Field Training of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Arjeeling and
later founded a trekking inventure company. The effects climbers have

(04:43):
on Mount Everest in the environment, as well as the
danger of conditions on Everest for climbers, remains a topic
of debate. I'm Eves jeffco and hopefully you know a
little more about history today than you did yesterday. And
as an addition, no note, there has been controversy over
whether nor Gay and Hillary were really the first to

(05:05):
get to the summit. Some say that Andrew Irvine and
George Mallory made it to the top on their fatal
climb and just did not make it back down. Thank
you for joining me today. You can find us on Twitter, Instagram,
and Facebook at T d I h C podcast And

(05:26):
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(05:48):
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