{"id":4824,"canonical_url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1963ce-may-1--4824","name":"1963 CE, May 1","year":1963,"era":"CE","month":5,"day":1,"url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1963ce-may-1--4824","iso-date":"1963-05-01","precision":"year-month-day","description":"\u003cp\u003eMountaineer, Jim Whittaker, became the first American to summit Mount Everest, reaching the 29,035-foot peak alongside Sherpa Nawang Gombu on May 1, 1963. He famously ran out of oxygen near the summit and survived by successfully managing risks in the \"death zone\".\u003c/p\u003e","additional_details":"\u003cp\u003eWhittaker was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. He was part of the 1963 (First) American Mount Everest Expedition, organized by the American Alpine Club and led by Norman Dyhrenfurth. He was also the first American to summit K2 and led the 1990 Everest International Peace Climb. Whittaker was the first full-time employee of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) and later served as the outdoor retailer's CEO. His twin brother and renowned mountain guide was Lou Whittaker. Jim Whittaker passed away on April 9, 2026, in Port Townsend, Washington.\u003c/p\u003e","photo":"https://k365fs.imgix.net/cFx3u6AnRO6StN3dWoOr_Whittaker_Jim_Mt-Everest_1963%20-%20Wikimedia%20-%20NPR.jpg?auto=format,compress\u0026fit=clip\u0026max-w=1600","photo_width":1024,"photo_height":746,"created_at":"2026-04-08T13:05:23-07:00","updated_at":"2026-04-08T13:13:39-07:00","breadcrumbs":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"May History","item":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/may"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"May 1","item":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/may-1"}]},"schema":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Thing","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1963ce-may-1--4824#eventK365","name":"1963 CE, May 1","headline":"Mountaineer, Jim Whittaker, became the first American to summit Mount Everest, reaching the 29,035-foot... - 1963 CE","description":"Mountaineer, Jim Whittaker, became the first American to summit Mount Everest, reaching the 29,035-foot peak alongside Sherpa Nawang Gombu on May 1, 1963. He...","url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1963ce-may-1--4824","additionalType":"HistoricalEvent","inLanguage":"en","datePublished":"2026-04-08T13:05:23-07:00","dateModified":"2026-04-08T13:13:39-07:00","publisher":{"@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/#organizationK365"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://k365fs.imgix.net/cFx3u6AnRO6StN3dWoOr_Whittaker_Jim_Mt-Everest_1963%20-%20Wikimedia%20-%20NPR.jpg?auto=format,compress\u0026fit=clip\u0026max-w=1600","width":1024,"height":746},"temporalCoverage":"1963-05-01","isPartOf":[{"@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/#websiteK365"},{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/may","name":"What Happened in May History"},{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/may-1#pageK365","name":"What Happened on May 1"}]}}