Amelia Earhart

1897 – 1939

Amelia Mary Earhart was an American aviator and aviation pioneer who in 1932 became the first woman to complete a nonstop solo transatlantic flight, for which she received the Distinguished Flying Cross. She set numerous additional speed and distance records and was a founder of the Ninety-Nines, the international organization for women pilots. She disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean in July 1937 during an attempted circumnavigation of the globe with navigator Fred Noonan and was officially declared dead in 1939; the fate of her flight remains the subject of extensive search and speculation to this day.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM