On this day, 101 years ago, on June 8, 1924 (May 7, 1924 in the lunar calendar), humanity's first attempt at Mount Everest was unsuccessful. Mallory and Irwin, on crutches and carrying oxygen tanks, were outside their camp, pictured two days before their disappearance, with their signatures attached. June 9, 1924 Experienced mountaineer George Mallory and young Andrew Irwin from Morton College, Oxford, died trying to reach the unconquered summit of Mount Everest. This was Mallory's third attempt to reach the summit: in his last attempt in 1922, he reached a record height of 26,985 feet. When the climbers left their camp on the Lombach Glacier, things seemed ideal. But soon, they encountered the worst Himalayan storms in living memory, forcing them back to camp twice. On the morning of June 8, Mallory and Irving set out for a final effort. They were last seen at 12:50 p.m. the next day, just 800 feet from the summit. They disappeared into a blizzard and were never seen again.