Sir Edmund Hillary | 1919-2008

Hillary is shown at the start of his so-called “Reunion Trek” from Lukla, Nepal, on April 1, 1993. The 73-year-old joined some of the members of the original 1953 expedition to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first conquest of the world’s highest mountain.  (Binod Joshi / Associated Press)

Apart from his explorations and philanthropic efforts, Hillary -- shown in an undated photo -- wrote a number of books, including “High Adventure,” “The Crossing of Antarctica,” “No Latitude for Error,” “From the Ocean to the Sky,” “Nothing Venture, Nothing Win” and “View from the Summit.”  (John Everingham / Associated Press)

The famous adventurer is shown at his home in Auckland, New Zealand, on May 3, 2002. He once said of his celebrity: “I was just a country boy. I thought the mountaineering world would be interested, but I never dreamed that it would have that effect on people who didn’t climb.”  (Dean Purcell / Associated Press)

Hillary waves to fans during a ceremony in his honor at Katmandu in May 2003 as part of the Mount Everest Golden Jubilee Celebration.  (Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP/Getty Images)

In June 2004, Hillary was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit by Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw.  (Wojtek Radwanski AFP/Getty Images)

Last year, Hillary ventured to Antarctica to participate in the 50th anniversary of New Zealand’s Scott Base. “I knew right away that this is what I wanted to do, spend my life among the mountains and the snow and the ice,” he once said of his love of climbing.  (Wayne Drought / Associated Press)