Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart was an American aviator who became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and later disappeared during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe by air.
She vanished over the Pacific during the most difficult leg of an attempt to fly around the world, and despite decades of searching, neither her plane nor her remains have ever been conclusively found.
Matching Lindbergh's Feat
Earhart set numerous aviation records during the late 1920s and early 1930s, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932, matching a transatlantic feat previously achieved only by Charles Lindbergh five years earlier.
An Advocate for Women in Aviation
Earhart used her growing fame to advocate actively for women's participation in aviation, co-founding The Ninety-Nines, an organization dedicated to supporting female pilots that continues to operate today.
A Voice for Women's Careers
Earhart also worked as a faculty member at Purdue University, where she advised women students on career opportunities and helped fund and advance aeronautical engineering research at the school.
The Final Flight
In 1937, Earhart attempted an ambitious flight to become the first woman to circumnavigate the globe by air, accompanied by navigator Fred Noonan. The pair disappeared over the Pacific Ocean during one of the flight's most difficult and remote legs.
An Enduring Mystery
Despite extensive and repeated search efforts over the decades since, neither Earhart's remains nor her aircraft have ever been conclusively found, and her disappearance remains one of the most enduring and widely debated mysteries in aviation history.
