Edmund Hillary (left) and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay
Photographer: AP
Date: May 29, 1953
Location: Summit of Mount Everest, Nepal/China border
The photograph attributed to AP shows Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa after becoming the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953, as part of the ninth British expedition to Everest. News of the summit reached London on June 2, 1953, the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, to enormous celebration. Hillary was knighted and Norgay received the George Medal. Whether Hillary or Norgay stepped onto the summit first has been a subject of diplomatic sensitivity; Hillary stated in a private letter that he stepped up first, while Norgay's accounts were more ambiguous.
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