The first person to summit Mount Everest could not read.

The mans name was Tazing Norgay, and until later in his life; he was almost completely illiterate. He had run away from home several times in his teens, and as a result, never finished his schooling. At the age of 39 when he reached the top of Everest alongside Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953, he still couldn't read passed what we would consider to be a 3rd grade reading level.

Why did Hillary choose Norgay as his partner on his historic climb? Hillary had a narrow escape when the ice gave way as he was moving loads up to this camp, plunging him into a crevasse. Fortunately Tenzing, who was following, thrust his ice-axe in the snow, and whipped the rope round it in good belay. It tightened just in time to prevent Hillary being smashed to pieces at the bottom of the crevasse. Hillary took the famous photo of Tenzing posing with his ice-axe, but since Tenzing had never used a camera, Hillary's ascent went unrecorded.