On this day in ...... 1995, Alison Hargreaves became the 1st woman and only the 2d person ever to reach the top of Mount Everest alone and without oxygen. At once, Hargreaves (left) contacted her base camp by radio to have faxed to her 6-year-old son, 4-year-old daughter, and stayed-at-home husband this message:
'I am on the top of the world and I love you dearly.'
Three months to the day after conquering the world's highest mountain, Hargreaves, 33, was killed, apparently in a sudden storm, just after reaching the 2d highest summit,
Pakistan's K2. The BBC reports that after her "death, there was some criticism in the media about whether a mother should be allowed to pursue such a dangerous sport."... 1846, the United States declared war against Mexico, beginning a conflict that would end with the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, by which Mexico lost much of the territory, in red at right, that since has been known as the U.S. Southwest.
