AP PhotoAmerican aviator Amelia Earhart poses with flowers as she arrives in Southampton, England, after her transatlantic flight on the "Friendship" from Burry Point, Wales, on June 26, 1928. The tri-motor "Friendship" was piloted by two men as Earhart served as the commander, making her the first woman passenger to fly across the Atlantic.
AP PhotoAmerican aircraft pilot Amelia Earhart is assisted by her husband, George Palmer Putnam, as she climbs out of the cockpit of her autogiro after completing a transcontinental flight to the West Coast and back, at the Metropolitan Airport in Newark, N.J., on June 22, 1931.
AP PhotoIn this image Amelia Earhart sits at the controls of her plane nicknamed the Flying Laboratory on July 3, 1931.
AP PhotoAs the first woman to be honored with the award, Amelia Earhart Putnam receives the Distinguished Flying Cross from U.S. Vice President Charles Curtis, left, in Los Angeles, Calif., on July 29, 1931. Governor James Rolph of California is on the right.
AP PhotoTransatlantic pilots Amelia Earhart Putnam, right, and Bernt Balchen pose at Teterboro Airport in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., May 1932. They will fly to Newfoundland in the plane in background, May 19.
AP PhotoPeople surround Amelia Earhart's single-engine Lockheed Vega plane after she landed in an open field near Londonderry, northern Ireland, on May 21, 1932. Earhart began her solo nonstop transatlantic flight on May 20 from Newfoundland, Canada.
AP PhotoA crowd cheers for aviator Amelia Earhart as she boards her single-engine Lockheed Vega airplane in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, for the trip back to London on May 22, 1932. Earhart became the first woman to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean when she finished her 2,026 mile journey on May 21, 1932 in under 15 hours after departing from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland. Earhart vanished mysteriously over the Pacific during her attempted round-the-world flight in 1937.
AP PhotoAndrew Mellon, U.S. ambassador to Court of St. James, offers congratulations to Mrs. Amelia Earhart Putnam as the famous aviator arrives in London on May 22, 1932.
AP PhotoAmerican flier Amelia Earhart, in the garden of the American Embassy, in London, on May 24, 1932, where she is staying.
AP PhotoView shows part of thousands who assembled at New York's City Hall June 20, 1932 to join in welcome accorded Mrs. Amelia Earhart Putnam, after her record trans-Atlantic solo flight. In center are official cars entering the City Hall Plaza where the flier was welcomed by Mayor James. J. Walker.
AP PhotoAmerican aircraft pilot Amelia Earhart receives the National Geographic Medal by U.S. President Herbert Hoover, in honor of her transatlantic flight, on June 21, 1932, at the White House lawn in Washington, D.C. Standing on the left is Dr. Gilbert Grosvenor, President of the National Geographic Society, on the right is first lady Lou Henry Hoover watching the scene.
AP PhotoAmerican aviator Amelia Earhart is shown on June 30, 1932 at an unknown location. Earhart, 34, became the first woman to fly solo in a nonstop flight across the Atlantic on May 21.
AP PhotoAmelia Earhart Putnam in her Lockheed Vega plane in which she was the first woman to make a transatlantic flight, Aug. 24, 1932. She started on her attempted to set a transcontinental record from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J.
AP PhotoJimmie Haizlip, new speed king of the national air races, tore into Cleveland at 238-mile-an hour clip on Aug. 30, 1932 from New York. He is being greeted by Mrs. Amelia Earhart Putnam just after his arrival. Behind Mrs. Putnam is Senator Hiram Bingham of Connecticut.
AP PhotoCapt. and Mrs. J. A. Mollison, basking in the sand at Rye, New York on July 29, 1933 with Mr. and Mrs. George Palmer Putnam, whose guests they were at the latters home. The flying Britons celebrated their first wedding anniversary with the Putnams. Left to right Putnam, Mrs. Putnam , Mrs. Amy Johnson Mollison and Capt. Mollison.
Ernest King, The Associated PressAmelia Earhart, the only person to fly solo from Honolulu to the mainland of the United States, arrived at the Oakland, Calif., airport on Jan. 19, 1935 in order to attend a civic banquet in her honor at the Athens Athletic Club of Oakland. Upon arrival, left to right are George Palmer Putnam, Amelias husband, Amelia Earhart Putnam, Paul Mantz, mechanic for Amelia and Mrs. Paul Mantz.
AP PhotoAmerican aviator Amelia Earhart poses before boarding a TWA airplane at Newark Airport, N.J., May 22, 1935. Earhart is en route to Chicago, Ill., to address the Chicago Women's Club.
AP PhotoAmelia Earhart Putnam and her husband, George Palmer Putnam, as they were greeted at Honolulu on Jan. 03, 1935 by little Miss Dorothy Leslie, nine, who is shown standing on the wheel of Miss Earhart's plane on the deck of the S.S Lurline.
AP PhotoAviator Amelia Earhart stands with members of her flight team in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1937. From left are Paul Mantz, technical adviser, Earhart, navigators Harry Manning and Fred Noonan.
AP PhotoAmelia Earhart tells a luncheon group about the flight in which she would disappear and lead to a widespread search of the Pacific near Howland Island in Oakland, California on July 8, 1937.
AP PhotoAmelia Earhart Putnam and her husband George Palmer Putnam display two kites as they stand in front of Earhart's twin-engine Lockheed Electra in Oakland, Calif., on March 6, 1937, ten days prior to her projected flight around the world. Earhart plans to fly these kites as distress signals to aid searchers in finding her, should she be forced down during her adventure.
AP PhotoAmelia Earhart is shown climbing out of the cockpit after piloting her plane from Los Angeles to Oakland, Ca., on March 10, 1937. Earhart and her crew will begin their around-the-world journey from Oakland to Howland Island on March 18.
Amelia Earhart poses in this undated photo. (AP Photo)
AP PhotoIn a March 10, 1937 file photo American aviatrix Amelia Earhart waves from the Electra before taking off from Los Angeles, Ca., on March 10, 1937. Earhart is flying to Oakland, Ca., where she and her crew will begin their round-the-world flight to Howland Island on March 18.
AP PhotoAviation pioneer Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan pose with map of the Pacific showing the route of their last flight, in Los Angeles, May 1937.
AP PhotoAmelia Earhart lifted her twin-motored monoplane shown June 1, 1937 safely off the runways of the Municipal Airport on the first leg of a West-to-East flight around the world. A similar flight in the other direction ended in Honolulu last March when Miss Earhart cracked up the same plane in a takeoff attempt.
AP PhotoIt is feared that Amelia Earharts giant all-metal plane, on the last lap of her round-the-world flight, is down in the Pacific. A radio message received stated that only half an hours fuel remained, and she and her navigator, Capt. Fred Noonan, were seeking Howland Island. George Palmer Putnam, husband of famed aviator Amelia Earhart, is shown at a Coast Guard radio station with maps and charts to follow his wife's plane on her attempt to round the world, in San Francisco, Calif., on July 3, 1937. Earhart's plane is hours overdue while en route between New Guinea and Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean.
AP Photo
1 of 27
American aviator Amelia Earhart poses with flowers as she arrives in Southampton, England, after her transatlantic flight on the "Friendship" from Burry Point, Wales, on June 26, 1928. The tri-motor "Friendship" was piloted by two men as Earhart served as the commander, making her the first woman passenger to fly across the Atlantic.
Expand
PUBLISHED:
Getting your player ready...
American aviation pioneer and author Amelia Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and was awarded the United States Distinguished Flying Cross.
During an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937 in a Purdue-funded Lockheed Model 10-E Electra, Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island.