You don't have Javascript enabled. To view this site requires Javascript to be enabled.
MjIxMi0tLTU1NC0tLTE=.jpg
If you can't access speech audio, click here to get Real Player
sponsored by peru

29th May

150---Image_large

1953: Men reach Everest summit


Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal plant four flags at the peak of Mt. Everest--29,028 feet above sea level--and become the first explorers to top Everest. As early as the 1920s, attempts were made to scale Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain. However, no climbers succeeded until Hillary and Norgay on May 29, 1953. The two, part of a British expedition, made their final assault on the summit after spending a fitful night at 27,900 feet. News of their achievement broke around the world on June 2, the day of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, and many called it a good omen of things to come. The Queen knighted Edmund Hillary later that year.

1999

US space shuttle Discovery becomes the first spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station still under construction in space.

1985

39 football fans are killed and at least another 400 injured when a wall collapses during crowd violence at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels only minutes before the start of the European Cup Final between Liverpool and Juventus.

1982

In the first Papal visit to Britain since 1531, Pope Paul II prays alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Church of England, at Canterbury Cathedral.

1979

Bishop Abel Muzorewa is sworn in as the first black Prime Minister of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia - the name given to the country in the brief period before full independence.

1953

New Zealand climber Sir Edmund Hillary and his sherpa Tenzing Norgay, become the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest in the Himalayas. The news breaks in Britain on Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Day, June 2nd.

1950

In Britain, BBC radio broadcasts the first episode of the Archers.

1944

World War II: American aircraft carrier Block Island is sunk by a German submarine in the Atlantic.

1942

American singer Bing Crosby records the world's top selling record: White Christmas, for the soundtrack of the film Holiday Inn.

1914

Cruise liner Empress of Ireland collides with a Norwegian freighter on the St Lawrence River in Canada. More than 1000 are killed.

1871

Whit Monday becomes the first official Bank Holiday in Britain.

1848

Wisconsin becomes the 30th state of the Union.

1790

Rhode Island becomes the 13th state of the Union.

1500

Portuguese explorer Bartalomeu Diaz drowns during a voyage.

1453

Mohammad II, founder of the Ottoman Empire, captures the city of Constantinople which is later declared the Empire's capital.

1975

Spice girl Melanie Janine Brown born in Leeds, England.

1949

British musician Francis Rossi.

1939

British actress Nanette Newman.

1917

US President John F Kennedy. President of the United States 1961-1963.

1903

American comedian Bob Hope is born in Eltham, South London - real name Leslie Townes Hope. Emigrates to America when he is aged 4.

1894

Austrian film director Joseph von Sternberg -who encourages the career of Marlene Dietrich in films such as Morocco; Shanghai Express and The Blue Angel.

1630

Charles Stuart, son of King Charles I of England. Becomes King Charles II in 1660 when the British monarchy is restored to the throne - 11 years after his father was beheaded by Oliver Cromwell.

1994

Former East German ruler Erich Honecker dies in exile in Chile aged 81.

1979

American silent screen actress Mary Pickford aged 86.

1942

American actor John Barrymore aged 60.

1911

Sir William Gilbert, librettist of the Gilbert and Sulivan operas dies after rescuing a woman from drowning in a garden pond.

1814

Empress Josephine of France - wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.