Amelia Earhart


Earhart beneath the nose of her
Lockheed Model 10-E Electra,
March 1937, Oakland, California

Born: Amelia Mary Earhart, July 24, 1897; Atchison, Kansas, U.S.
Disappeared: July 2, 1937 (aged 39); Pacific Ocean, en route to Howland Island from Lae, Papua New Guinea
Status: Declared dead in absentia; January 5, 1939 (aged 41)
Known for: Many early aviation records, including first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean
Spouse(s): George P. Putnam (m. 1931)
Website: Official website

Amelia Mary Earhart (/ˈɛərhɑːrt/, born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937) was an American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots.

Born in Atchison, Kansas, Earhart developed a passion for adventure at a young age, steadily gaining flying experience from her twenties. In 1928, Earhart became the first female passenger to cross the Atlantic by airplane (accompanying pilot Wilmer Stultz), for which she achieved celebrity status. In 1932, piloting a Lockheed Vega 5B, Earhart made a nonstop solo transatlantic flight, becoming the first woman to achieve such a feat. She received the United States Distinguished Flying Cross for this accomplishment. In 1935, Earhart became a visiting faculty member at Purdue University as an advisor to aeronautical engineering and a career counselor to women students. She was also a member of the National Woman's Party and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.

During an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937 in a Purdue-funded Lockheed Model 10-E Electra, Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island. Fascination with her life, career, and disappearance continues to this day.

{snip}

National Geographic aims to solve Amelia Earhart mystery
The Associated Press 31 min ago

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — The deep-sea explorer who discovered the wrecked Titanic is tackling an aviation mystery: Amelia Earhart's disappearance.

Robert Ballard and a National Geographic expedition will search for her plane next month near a Pacific Ocean atoll that's part of the Phoenix Islands.

Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan were attempting an around-the-world flight when their aircraft disappeared in July 1937,
Ballard and his team will use remotely operated underwater vehicles in their search, the National Geographic channel said Tuesday. An archaeological team will investigate a potential Earhart campsite with search dogs and DNA sampling.

The channel will air a two-hour special on Oct. 20. "Expedition Amelia" will include clues gathered by the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery that led Ballard to the atoll, named Nikumaroro.