Mt Everest was named after India's former Surveyor-General
Mount Everest was named after Sir George Everest, who was the former Surveyor-General of India. The British geographer, who passed away on December 1, 1866, led the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India that mapped the subcontinent for 2,400 kilometres. Despite his protests, the world's highest peak, then known as Peak XV, was renamed Mount Everest in 1865 in his honour.