On 24 July 1897, Amelia Earhart, an American aviation pioneer, was born in Atchison, Kansas.
Amelia Earhart is one of the best-known American aviation pioneers. In 1928, she became the first female passenger to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a heavier-than-air aircraft. Four years later, Earhart became the first woman to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic.
Her transatlantic flight, together with the books she wrote about her aviation experiences, brought Earhart celebrity status. Nicknamed “Lady Lindy” (a reference to another famous American aviation pioneer, Charles Lindbergh) and the “Queen of the Air”, she used her popularity to promote air travel and encourage women to pursue careers in aviation.
In the mid-1930s, Earhart began preparing for a round-the-world flight. In 1935, she became the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California, then completed a solo flight from Los Angeles to Mexico City, followed by another non-stop flight from Mexico City to New York. She also set no fewer than seven women’s aviation records in the categories of speed and flight distance.
In March 1937, Amelia Earhart and her crew made their first attempt to fly around the world. However, they abandoned the flight shortly after the first leg from California to Hawaii, following a crash that damaged the aircraft.
Then, on 1 June 1937, the female trailblazer and her navigator, Fred Noonan, took off from Miami, Florida, on a second attempt to circumnavigate the globe. After making several stops in South America, Africa and Asia, they successfully reached Lae in New Guinea, having completed approximately 35,000 km of the planned route.
On 2 July 1937, Earhart and Noonan departed Lae and headed for Howland Island in the central Pacific Ocean. However, they never reached their destination and disappeared over the Pacific. Their fate remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in the history of aviation.
More about Amelia Earhart and her pioneering flights in 25 August 1932 – Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly nonstop across the United States and 17 March 1937 – Amelia Earhart´s first attempt to circumnavigate the world.
Cover photo: Amelia Earhart in an airplane (photo: Library of Congress, Harris & Ewing collection, LC-DIG-hec-40747)
