People & Characters
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart was an American aviation pioneer who set major flying records and disappeared during a 1937 attempt to circle the world.
Amelia Earhart was an American pilot, writer, and advocate for women in aviation. Born in Atchison, Kansas, on July 24, 1897, she learned to fly in California and earned an international pilot license in 1923. Her record-setting flights made her one of the best-known aviators of the early twentieth century.
In 1932, Earhart became the first woman to fly solo and nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. She disappeared with navigator Frederick Noonan on July 2, 1937, while flying from Lae, New Guinea, toward Howland Island during an attempted round-the-world journey.
Quick facts
- Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas, on July 24, 1897.
- She became the sixteenth woman to receive an international pilot license in 1923.
- In 1928, she became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by airplane, traveling as a passenger and flight-log keeper.
- In May 1932, she became the first woman and the second person to fly solo and nonstop across the Atlantic.
- Earhart and navigator Frederick Noonan disappeared over the central Pacific on July 2, 1937.
A surprising fact
The Lockheed Vega 5B used for Earhart's 1932 Atlantic flight is preserved by the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.