Everest anniversary: 12 little-known facts about the world's highest mountain

As the 60th anniversary of the triumphant 1953 British expedition to Everest approaches, here are some facts about the first ascent of the world's highest mountain:

- Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first men to reach the 29,028ft (8,848 metres) summit on May 29, 1953.

- When he reached the top, Sir Edmund turned to a member of his team and said: "We knocked the b*****¦off," referring to the mountain.

- Previous adventurers George Mallory and Sandy Irvine began climbing Everest in 1924 wearing hobnail boots and heavy tweed clothing.

- Both men disappeared on June 8, 1924, having been last seen within 2,000ft of the world's highest peak.

- Mallory's body was found in 1999 but the discovery was unable to help answer the mountain's great question - did Mallory and Irvine reach the summit and die on their descent?

- The last surviving member of Sir Edmund's Everest expedition, George Lowe, died in March this year at the age of 89.

- Everest was named after Sir George Everest, the British surveyor-general of India, in 1865.

- It is also called Chomolangma, meaning Goddess Mother of Snows, in Tibetan and Sagarmatha, meaning Mother of the Universe, in Nepalese.

- The first American to scale the summit was Jim Whittaker on May 1, 1963.

- The first British woman to reach the top of Everest was Rebecca Stephens, from London, in 1993.

[On This Day: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first to climb Mount Everest]

- The second highest mountain in the world is K2 in the Karakoram range on the border of China and Pakistan.

- Some estimates of the number of corpses that remain on Everest put the figure at more than 200. Most are in the "Death Zone", the upper section of the mountain above 26,000ft.

Stunning rare colour pictures of Edmund Hillary's ascent to the top of Everest in 1953: