The 55th Aniversary of the Mt Everest Ascent

On May 29, 1953, the first ascent of Mount Everest was completed- 

Mount Everest, also called Chomolungma, Qomolangma or Zhumulangma (in in Chinese: 珠穆朗玛峰 Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng) or Sagarmatha (Nepali: सगरमाथाmeaning Ocean Head) is the highest mountain on Earth, as measured by the height of its summit above sea level, which is 8,848 metres or 29,029 feet. The mountain, which is part of the Himalaya range in High Asia, is located on the border between Sagarmatha Zone, Nepal and China.

In 1953, a ninth British expedition, led by John Hunt, returned to Nepal. Hunt selected two climbing pairs to attempt to reach the summit. The first pair (Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans) came within 100 m (300 feet) of the summit on 26 May, but turned back after becoming exhausted. As planned, their work in route finding and breaking trail and their caches of extra oxygen were of great aid to the following pair. Two days later, the expedition made its second and final assault on the summit with its second climbing pair, the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay from Nepal. They reached the summit at 11:30 a.m. local time on May 29, 1953 via the South Col Route. At the time, both acknowledged it as a team effort by the whole expedition, but Tenzing revealed a few years later that Hillary had put his foot on the summit first. They paused at the summit to take photographs and buried a few sweets and a small cross in the snow before descending.

Here is Google’s image to commemorate the event-

It’s Independence Day in Israel (Yom Ha’atzmaut)

From Wikipedia-

Yom Ha’atzmaut (Hebrew: יום העצמאות‎ yom hā-‘aṣmā’ūṯ), is the national Israeli independence day, commemorating the declaration of independence of Israel in 1948.

It falls on the 5th of the Jewish lunar month Iyar, celebrating the declaration of the state of Israel by David Ben-Gurion in Tel Aviv on May 14, 1948 (5 Iyar, 5708), and the end of the British Mandate of Palestine.

It is always preceded by Yom Hazikaron, the Israel fallen soldiers Remembrance Day on the 4th of Iyar (pronounced “eeyahr”).

An official ceremony is held every year on Mount Herzl on the evening of Yom Ha’atzmaut. The ceremony includes a speech by the speaker of the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament), a dramatic presentation, a ritual march of soldiers carrying the Flag of Israel, forming elaborate structures (such as a Menorah, Magen David and a number which represents the age of Israel) and the lighting of twelve torches (one for each of the Tribes of Israel). Every year a dozen Israeli citizens, who made a significant contribution in a selected area, are invited to light the torches.

Google Israel has this image:

It’s Children’s Day in Japan and South Korea

Wikipedia’s entry about Japan’s Children’s Day

May 05 is Children’s Day, called こどもの日 (“Kodomo no hi”, こどもの日^?) in Japanese; the festivities used to be called Boy’s Day , called 端午の節句 (Tango no Sekku, 端午の節句^?) in Japanese , to distinguish it from Girls’ Day, called 桃の節句 (Momo no Sekku, 桃の節句^?), ひな祭り (Hinamatsuri, ひな祭り^?) in Japanese , March 3). Both of these days are marked with a lot of activities for children. On this day, children display samurai swords, armor, and Kintarō dolls. Two important symbols of Children’s day are carps and irises. Traditionally, families fly carp kites with a carp representing each son.

Here is Google Japan’s logo-