Amelia Earhart

Amelia Mary Earhart was born on 24 July 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. She grew up in several cities as her father's work relocated the family. She first saw an airplane at a state fair in 1908 but did not take her first flying lesson until 1920, after working as a military nurse's aide during the First World War and taking various other occupations.

She received instruction from Anita Snook and purchased her first aircraft, a Kinner Airster biplane, in 1921. She set a women's altitude record of 14,000 feet in 1922. In 1928, she became the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air, though as a passenger rather than pilot, flying aboard a Fokker Trimotor piloted by Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon. The flight brought her public recognition and she subsequently became a prominent advocate for aviation and for women in flight.

In May 1932, Earhart flew solo from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, to a field in Northern Ireland, completing the transatlantic crossing in approximately fourteen hours and fifty-six minutes. This made her the first woman and the second person after Charles Lindbergh to fly solo across the Atlantic. For the achievement she received the Distinguished Flying Cross from the United States Congress. She subsequently set a women's nonstop transcontinental speed record and a women's altitude record for autogyros.

Earhart wrote two books about her flights: 20 Hrs. 40 Min. (1928) and The Fun of It (1932). She was a founding member of the Ninety-Nines, an organization of women pilots, and served as its first president.

In June 1937, Earhart began an attempt to circumnavigate the globe along an equatorial route with navigator Fred Noonan. On 2 July 1937, their Lockheed Electra 10E departed Lae, New Guinea, headed for Howland Island in the central Pacific. The aircraft and both occupants were never found. An extensive search by the United States Navy and Coast Guard was conducted but yielded no conclusive evidence of the aircraft's location. In January 1939, Earhart was declared legally dead.