Born July 20, 1919,
Auckland, New Zealand
Edmund Hillary was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on July 20, 1919. He grew up on a farm in the small town of Tuakau, 40 miles south of Auckland, and commuted to Auckland Grammar School. At 16 he saw mountains and snow for the first time on a school trip to Mount Ruapehu, a volcano in Tongariro National Park on New Zealand’s North Island. He attended college for two years but quit to work as a beekeeper on his father’s farm. At the start of World War II he decided not to volunteer in the New Zealand armed forces because of religious convictions. He then took a trip to the Southern Alps on New Zealand’s South Island to think over his decision. The trip resulted in Hillary’s interest in mountain climbing, which guided his later life.
When New Zealand instituted conscription later in the war, Hillary decided to volunteer for the Royal New Zealand Air Force. He spent much of his time climbing mountains around the air base where he was stationed, scaling his first tall mountain, Mount Tapuaenuku, at 9,465 feet.
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