Accomplishments: Live, from Mount Everest

Call it one small step for man, one giant leap for Japanese television. Nine weeks after the first of two teams of climbers from Japan, China and Nepal set out from opposite sides of Mount Everest, six determined mountaineers rendezvoused on the world's tallest peak. What made the occasion particularly memorable was that television viewers were able to share in the celebration, courtesy of three intrepid Japanese cameramen who also made the 29,028-ft. climb.

Broadcast live by Nippon Television Network from the summit, the alpine telecast captured another historic moment: the first time that two teams had scaled the mountain simultaneously from the Nepal and Tibet sides.