Amelia Earhart is honored for her achievements as an aviation pioneer each year on her birthday July 24th. She was born in 1897 as Amelia Mary Earhart in Atchison, Kansas USA.
One of her most courageous efforts and one of her many achievements was on May 20th, 1932.
Flying a Lockheed Vega 5B plane, Earhart made a nonstop solo transatlantic flight from Grace Harbor, New Foundland,landing in Derry, Ireland becoming the first woman to achieve such success. She received the United States Distinguished Flying Cross for this achievement.
In 1935, Earhart became a visiting faculty member at Purdue University as an advisor to aeronautical engineering and a career counselor to women students.
Amelia Earhart is remembered as a pioneer in the aviation world, an author and activist of her generation.
Amelia Earhart was also a best-selling author, writing books about her flying experiences. She wrote:
20 Hrs.40 Min. (1928); a journal of her experiences as the first woman passenger on a transatlantic flight.
The Fun of It (1932) a memoir of her flying experiences and an essay on women in aviation.
Last Flight (1937)featuring the periodic journal entries sent back to the United States during her world flight attempt, published in newspapers in the weeks before her final take off from New Guinea. This was compiled by her husband GP Putnam after she disappeared over the Pacific.
In 1937, Amelia Earhart attempted to fly around the world. Unfortunately, her Purdue-funded Lockheed Model 10 Electra disappeared over the Pacific Ocean near Howland Island. Amelia Earhart disappeared on July 2,1937,and her death was officially declared January 5,1939 after a long search effort.
Amelia Earhart is remembered as a pioneer in the world of aviation, an author and also activist of her generation; a member of the National Woman's Party and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Today, her success continues to be an example, a light, an encouragement to little girls and women around the world. Fascination with her life, career, and disappearance continues to this day. Whether or not the mystery will ever be solved remains to be seen.
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.” – Amelia Earhart