Amelia Earhart - 120th Birthday

A photo of Amelia Earhart, born 120 years ago today on July 24th, 1897. Amelia Mary Earhart was not only an aviation trailblazer and author, but was also a pioneer who challenged gender stereotypes. During her 1937 attempt to circumnavigate the globe with navigator Fred Noonan, she was presumed lost and never found. But new evidence - including information from the National Archives (as well as a photo) - persuasively suggests that she landed in the Marshall Islands and was taken prisoner by the Japanese, dying 2 years later on Saipan.

One of Amelia Earhart's most famous flights, the 1928 transatlantic flight that began on June 17th 1928 and lasted 20 hours and 40 minutes has an interesting story. As Amelia was actually a last minute replacement for Amy Phipps Guest, she had not had any training on the particular type of plane that was used (one that relied on specific instrumentation to fly). Therefore pilot Wilmer Stultz flew with her to 'document flying time', however, ended up piloting the plane the entire length of the trip. Once the team landed in Wales Amelia was quoted as saying "Stultz did all the flying—had to. I was just baggage, like a sack of potatoes."

In 1932, Amelia Earhart set off alone, at the age of 34, from Newfoundland to a pasture in Culmore, Northern Ireland. She had intended to mimic Charles Lindbergh's solo flight to Paris but had run into major complications along the way.

Amelia had multiple flights during her career - all of which pushed the limits and were aimed to break long standing records which (men) had accomplished. With her celebrity status, Amelia constantly focused on gender equality, showing that women could obtain the same objectives as men.