On June 2, 1953, twin boys were born to Mr. and Mrs. N. Stephens of Auckland, New Zealand.
In the headlines that day were two major events:
- The coronation of Elizabeth II as queen of the United Kingdom. Her coronation service, the first to be televised, took place mid-day at Westminster Abbey.
- The announcement that a pair of mountaineers, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal, had reached the summit of Mt. Everest on May 29.
The commemorate these two events, the baby boys were named Rex and Hillary.
(When the twins themselves were in the papers several days later, it was noted that the Stephens family might give Rex the additional name Philip, in honor of Prince Philip.)
Sources:
- “Twins Named After Events.” Barrier Miner [Broken Hill, NSW] 5 Jun. 1953: 11.
- 1953 in the United Kingdom – Wikipedia
Image: Adapted from Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay by Jamling Tenzing Norgay under CC BY-SA 3.0.
