• In 1841 Sir George Everest, surveyor of India, first records location of Everest and labels it Peak XV

• First height measurement of Peak XV made in 1856 at 29,002 feet

• Peak named after Sir George Everest in 1859

• In 1924 George Mallory and Andrew Irving launch their British expedition. They disappear somewhere above Camp I. (See more in Notable Climbs.)

• China occupies Tibet in 1950 and the north and east sides of Everest are closed to western climbers for 30 years. Nepal begins allowing expeditions on the south side.

As of the end of the 2000 climbing season:

• First successful ascent: Tenzing Norgay (Nepal) and Sir Edmund Hillary (New Zealand) on May 29, 1953 via the South East Ridge Route

• First by an American: James Whittaker via the South East Ridge Route in 1963

• Youngest Person: Shambu Tamang (Nepal) at age 16 on May 5, 1973

• First woman: Junko Tabei (Japan) on May 16, 1975 via the South East Ridge Route

• Largest Expedition: 410-member Chinese team in 1975

• First without bottled oxygen: Peter Habeler (Austria) and Reinhold Messner (Italy) on May 8, 1978 via the South East Ridge Route

• First winter ascent: Krzysztof Wielicki (Poland) on February 17, 1980

• First solo climb: Reinhold Messner (Italy) on August 8, 1980 via the North Col to North Face without bottled oxygen

• Fastest descent: Jean-Marc Boivin (France) paraglided from the top in 11 minutes in 1988

• First by an American woman: Stacey Allison on September 29, 1988 via the South East Ridge Route

• Oldest person: Lev Sarkisov (Georgia) at age 60 and 161 days in May 1999

• Longest stay on summit: Babu Chiri Sherpa (Nepal) stayed on the top for 21 hours and 30 minutes in spring of 1999

• Fastest ascent: Babu Chiri Sherpa (Nepal) from Base Camp to summit via South East Ridge Route in 16 hours and 56 minutes in spring of 2000

• Number of deaths: 167

• Number of ascents: 1,314

• Year with most ascents: 1998 with 73 ascents

• Year with most deaths: 1996 with 15

• Corpses on Everest: Estimated to be about 120