Amelia Earhart was an American aviator and the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She disappeared in 1937 while attempting to fly around the world, and her fate remains unknown.
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Here are a few interesting facts about Amelia Earhart:
1. She was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
2. Earhart was also a writer and a women’s rights advocate.
3. In 1933, at a White House event, Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt unexpectedly left their guests for a flight. Both women took turns piloting the plane and Roosevelt later commented that it marked a significant moment in history, as a woman in evening attire and slippers could successfully fly a plane at night.
4. Before gaining fame as an aviator, Amelia Earhart worked as a nurse in Toronto, Canada. To help fund her plane trips, she ventured into fashion and started her own clothing line. The designs incorporated unconventional materials such as silk from parachutes and fabric from airplane wings. Earhart also incorporated her passion for aviation by adding propeller-shaped buttons to some of her pieces.
5. Although Amelia Earhart was not intimidated by the challenge of flying across the Atlantic, she was fearful of marriage. In fact, she was so committed to having an open relationship that she included a provision in her prenuptial agreement stating that neither party would be held to a traditional code of marital fidelity. The agreement stated, “On our life together, I want you to understand that I shall not hold you to any medieval code of faithfulness to me, nor shall I consider myself bound to you similarly.”
6. The 99s, an international organization of women pilots, was established in 1929 by a group of 99 licensed female pilots, one of whom was Amelia Earhart, out of the total of 117 women pilots at the time. The youngest member of the organization was just 17 years old.
7. She disappeared without a trace during her attempt to fly around the world in 1937, and her disappearance remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the 20th century. The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard launched a massive search effort, deploying 10 ships and 65 aircraft to search the Pacific for more than two weeks. The search cost at least $4 million. On January 5, 1939, Amelia Earhart was officially declared deceased. The U.S. government’s investigation into her disappearance concluded that she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, had run out of fuel and crashed into the ocean. In 1996, the U.S. Congress declared Earhart the first honorary veteran of the United States for her pioneering role in aviation.
