Amelia Earhart: One of the Greatest Mysteries of the 20th Century
Amelia Earhart is one of the most celebrated female aviators of all time. In 1928 she became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean and the first person to fly solo and nonstop across the Atlantic. She set several other aviation records and, in 1937, set out to become the first female pilot to fly around the world. Tragically, her plane disappeared over the Pacific Ocean and she was never seen or heard from again. The disappearance of Amelia Earhart is one of the most mysterious and enduring mysteries of the 20th century.
The Life of Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart was born in Atchinson, Kansas, on July 24, 1897. She developed a love of flying when she took her first plane ride at the age of 23 in an open-air biplane. She taught herself to fly and purchased her own plane in 1928. She was soon flying around the United States and setting records. In 1932, she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, completing the 2,026-mile journey in just under 15 hours. She set numerous other daring aviation records and became an international celebrity.
What Happened to Amelia Earhart?
On June 1, 1937, Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, departed California in a twin-engine Lockheed Model 10. The goal of the journey was to circumnavigate the world. After making stops in South America, Africa, and the Indian Ocean, the pair arrived in New Guinea on July 2. On July 3, they departed for their final destination, Howland Island, but never arrived. After weeks of searching, the US Coast Guard officially declared Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan missing.
A plethora of theories on the fate of Earhart and Noonan have been suggested. Some experts have theorised that their plane crashed into the ocean and the pair died in the crash. Others have suggested the more sensational theories that their plane was hijacked by Japanese forces, that they crashed on a remote island and died, or that they survived and were taken captive. To this day, the mystery of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance remains unsolved.