Born in 1886, George Mallory was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s. A graduate of Cambridge and a veteran of World War I, Mallory has come to exemplify the dauntless, driven spirit of the first generation of European Everest pioneers. When asked why he wanted to climb Everest, he famously answered “because it’s there.” Mallory and his partner Andrew “Sandy” Irvine disappeared high on Everest during their second attempt to reach the summit during the 1924 Expedition. While Mallory’s body was discovered several hundred feet below the peak in 1999, speculation that he and Irvine could have reached the top first has never been resolved.