who was the first american to climb mount everest
Jim Whittaker As a member of the American Mount Everest Expedition led by Norman Dyhrenfurth in 1963, he was the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest. He summited on May 1, 1963, with the Sherpa Nawang Gombu (a nephew of Tenzing Norgay). They ran out of oxygen but managed to reach the summit. Once there, Whittaker planted a US flag at the top.[2]