Person of the Year 2008

In one of the craziest elections in American history, Barack Obama overcame a lack of experience, a funny name, two candidates who are political institutions and the racial divide to become the 44th President of the United States

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Edmund Hillary, 1919-2008

farewell obituary Mountaineering Edmund Hillary

Popperfoto / Getty

On May 29, 1953, Hillary, with the help of his Sherpa guide, became the first person to reach Earth's highest point. Standing atop the peak of Mount Everest, the New Zealand-born mountaineer beheld a view never before seen: "The whole world around us lay spread out like a giant relief map." It is a feat that has been achieved many times since but never with such resonance.

Gilbert Cruz

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