International Everest Day is observed to mark the ascent of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on May 29, 1953. Photos: AFP/Istock/Pixabay
Name
Mount Everest gets its name from Sir George Everest, who was the former Surveyor General of India. The mountain was named after him by his successor Andrew Waugh in his honour, and officially adopted by the Royal Geographic Society
Other names
While the tallest mountain is popularly known as Mount Everest around the world, locally it is known as 'Sagarmatha', 'Qomolangma' and 'Deodungha', among its most popular name Peak XV
Height
Interestingly, the last time Mount Everest was measured, its height had increased by two feet, when it was last measured in 2020. It is currently at 8,848.86 metres, which is 29,031 feet and 8 and 1/2 inches. While there are quite a few other mountains that are considered taller, this has been measured from above sea level. The other comparisons include Mauna Kea in Hawaii, and Denali in Alaska, USA
Climbers
While the first recorded expeditions to climb the mountain were made by the British in 1921 and 1922, the third one in 1924 was taken up by British mountaineers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine on June 8 but they never returned.
Among several other attempts over the next 30 years, Hillary, who was a New Zealand mountaineer and Norgay, an Indian-Nepalese mountaineer, are known to have successfully completed their ascent on May 29, leading the way for many people over the years to make the journey.
Most recently, among several other climbers, Himachali Chhonzin Angmo became the first blind woman to climb the world's tallest mountain. She was also joined by the likes of Aritra Roy (in photo), the first person from Tripura to complete the feat, and Nepal's Kami Rita Sherpa who climbed it for the 31st time, breaking his own record
Last but not the least, Mount Everest is also recognised as an International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) heritage site for having the highest rocks on the planet. The rocks are known to be fossiliferous and marine limestone
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