The mysterious disappearance of Amelia Earhart

Amelia Mary Earhart was born on July 24, 1897, in Atchison, Kansas, to Samuel "Edwin" Stanton Earhart and Amelia "Amy" Otis Earhart.

She was the second child of the couple, and had an older sister named Muriel.

Amelia's early years were spent in a somewhat unconventional household, especially for that era.

Her maternal grandparents, Alfred and Amelia Harres Otis, were quite progressive, and so her adventurous spirit was nurtured from a young age.

Earhart's very first encounter with flying occurred when she was just a child, and it was less than impressive.

She saw an airplane at the Iowa State Fair, and later recalled that it was "a thing of rusty wire and wood and looked not at all interesting."

But, little did she know then how significant aviation would become in her life.

Amelia's formal education was somewhat sporadic, due to her family frequent moving houses due to her father's job and struggles with alcoholism.

Nevertheless, Amelia was a voracious reader and showed an early aptitude for science and sports.

She graduated from Hyde Park High School in 1916 and went on to attend Ogontz: a girls' finishing school in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

However, she did not complete her program there.

When World War I broke out, Amelia trained as a nurse's aide with the Red Cross and served at a military hospital in Canada, tending to wounded soldiers.

The war had a profound impact on Earhart. Inspired by the pilots she met and the stories of their aerial exploits, she began to seriously contemplate a career in aviation.

Then, in December 1920, she attended an air show in Long Beach, California, with her father.

There, she took a ten-minute plane ride that forever changed her life. As she later recounted, "By the time I had got two or three hundred feet off the ground, I knew I had to fly."

Determined to become a pilot, Earhart began taking flying lessons in January 1921 from Neta Snook, one of the few female flight instructors of the time.

To fund her lessons, she worked a variety of jobs. This included stints as a photographer, a truck driver, and a stenographer at the local telephone company.

However, she also saved money by living in a small, rented room rather than living with her parents.

Finally, in July 1921, Earhart purchased her first airplane. It was a second-hand Kinner Airster that she affectionately named "The Canary" due to its bright yellow color.

It was in this plane, she began to set new records. In October 1922, she flew to an altitude of 14,000 feet, which was a world record for female pilots.

Unfortunately, Earhart's flying career was temporarily halted in 1924 due to family financial problems.

She sold "The Canary" and bought a car, which she used to drive her mother across the country to Boston.

There, she worked as a social worker at Denison House, a settlement house, while continuing to fly whenever she could.

The next big achievement was Amelia Earhart's transatlantic flight in 1928. Although she was only a passenger on that flight, the experience fueled her ambition to achieve more.

In 1932, Earhart made her most significant achievement yet. On May 20, she took off from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, aiming to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

During the journey, she battled strong winds, icy conditions, and mechanical problems.

Eventually, she landed in a pasture in Culmore, Northern Ireland, after a grueling flight of nearly 15 hours.

This feat made her an international hero. As a result, she was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Congress, the first ever given to a woman, and the Cross of Knight of the Legion of Honor from the French government.

However, she did not stop there; Earhart continued to break records and push boundaries in the years that followed.

In 1935, she became the first person to fly solo from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Oakland, California, and from Los Angeles to Mexico City.

Later that year, she was also the first to fly solo nonstop from Mexico City to Newark.

Amelia Earhart was a passionate advocate for the advancement of women in aviation and society at large.

She believed in the potential of women to excel in any field, including the then male-dominated world of aviation.

In 1929, Earhart was instrumental in establishing the Ninety-Nines, an international organization for female pilots.

The organization was named for the 99 charter members and aimed to provide mutual support and advancement opportunities for women in aviation.

He was elected as the organization's first president.

Earhart was also a sought-after public speaker and writer. She used these platforms to share her experiences, to advocate for aviation and women's rights, and to inspire others to pursue their dreams.

She wrote several books about her flying experiences, including "20 Hrs., 40 Min." and "The Fun of It," which included an essay on women in aviation.

She also wrote a column for Cosmopolitan magazine, where she discussed various topics, including aviation and the role of women in society.

In addition, Earhart was a member of the National Woman's Party and a strong supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment: a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution designed to guarantee equal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex.

Clearly, she was not afraid to use her fame to highlight the need for gender equality.

In 1936, Amelia Earhart began planning what would be her most ambitious flight yet: a circumnavigation of the globe following a grueling equatorial route.

This endeavor would require a plane with exceptional range and reliability. The aircraft chosen for this mission was a Lockheed Electra 10E.

Earhart referred to the Electra as her "flying laboratory" due to the numerous customizations made to accommodate the long journey.

In preparation, it was equipped with advanced navigation equipment and extra fuel tanks to increase its range.

The benefits of this particular model of plane were that it was a twin-engine, all-metal monoplane, capable of carrying a substantial load over long distances.

Joining her on the flight was Earhart's navigator, Fred Noonan. He was a seasoned mariner and flight navigator with extensive experience in both sea and air navigation.

The world flight began on March 17, 1937, from Oakland, California. After several stops, they arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, from where they planned to continue to Howland Island, a tiny piece of land in the vast Pacific Ocean.

However, during the takeoff from Honolulu, the Electra ground-looped, causing significant damage to the plane.

The flight had to be abandoned, and the aircraft was shipped back to California for repairs.

Undeterred, Earhart and Noonan embarked on a second attempt two months later, this time flying eastward from Oakland.

They made a number of planned stops along the way, including in Miami, Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Dakar, Senegal; and Lae, New Guinea.

By the time they reached Lae on June 29, they had completed approximately 22,000 miles of the journey, with just 7,000 miles remaining.

Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan departed from Lae, New Guinea, on July 2, 1937.

Their intended destination was Howland Island, a tiny speck of land in the vast Pacific Ocean, over 2,500 miles away.

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca was stationed off Howland Island to provide radio navigation assistance.

During the flight, Earhart and the Itasca exchanged a series of radio messages, but due to a combination of technical issues and misunderstandings, the two parties struggled to establish reliable contact.

Earhart's last known transmission was received at 8:43 a.m. (Itasca time). She reported her position and stated that they were running low on fuel.

After that, silence.

When it became clear that Earhart and Noonan were overdue at Howland Island, a massive search operation was launched.

The U.S. government, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, authorized a search effort that lasted for 16 days and cost an estimated $4 million, making it the most extensive and expensive air and sea search in history up to that time.

Despite these efforts, no trace of Earhart, Noonan, or the Electra was found.

In the absence of definitive evidence, numerous theories have emerged about what happened to Earhart and Noonan.

The official U.S. government position is that they ran out of fuel and crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

However, other theories suggest they may have landed and survived for a time as castaways on an uninhabited island, or even that they were captured by the Japanese.

The disappearance of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the 20th century.