George Herbert Leigh Mallory (June 18, 1886 - June 8/June 9 1924) was a British mountaineer who took part in three expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920's. Mallory and his climbing partner Andrew Irvine both disappeared somewhere high on the North - East Ridge in an attempt to get to the top. The pair's last known sighting was a few hundred feet from the summit. Mallory's fate was unknown for 75 years until his body was discovered in 1999. Whether they made it to the summit or not still remains a mystery.