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Kiwi of the Week

Bernard Freyberg

A First World War hero and commander of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Bernard Freyberg was British-born but New Zealand-raised. He proved to be a charismatic and popular military leader who would later serve a term as Governor-General

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Today in History

29 May

1953 Hillary and Tenzing conquer Everest

A beekeeper from New Zealand, Edmund Hillary, and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the summit of the world's tallest peak.

After climbing with British teams in the Himalayas in 1951 and 1952, Hillary and another New Zealander, George Lowe, were invited to join John Hunt’s 1953 British Everest Expedition. On 29 May – four days before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II – the final pair, Hillary and the experienced Tenzing, reached the summit of Mt Everest via the south face. They were the first men to stand on the ‘roof of the world’.

From the moment Hillary told Lowe that they had ‘knocked the bastard off’, his life was public property. Hillary was knighted and fêted around the world, and went on to become the most famous New Zealander ever to have lived.

Image: Royal Geographical Society