Kate Sheppard made New Zealand the first country to allow women's suffrage. Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Ernest Rutherford was the pioneering scientist who was the first to split the atom. Other notable New Zealanders mentioned include film director Peter Jackson, aviator Jean Batten, Olympic athletes Valerie Vili and Mahe Drysdale, rugby player Daniel Carter, singer J Williams, and rapper Savage.