It happened at 11:30 am. The two men were Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, of Nepal.

Mount Everest is the highest point on Planet Earth at 29,035 ft above sea level.

They were taking part in a British Expedition. Queen Elizabeth was informed of their achievement on June 2nd, the day of her coronation.

The classic reason why people climb mountains, "Because it is there" was a quip from George Leigh Mallory who said it to a journalist after a 1921 expedition to Everest.