Amelia Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. She planned to go to college, but after encountering four wounded World War I soldiers on the street, she decided to go into nursing. Hence, during World War I, Amelia worked in Canada as a military nurse, and after the war was over, returned to her family, where she became a social worker at the Denison House in Boston, Massachusetts. There, Amelia started to teach immigrant children the English language.
In 1920, Amelia took a ten minute plane ride that changed her life. After that flight, she knew she was meant to fly. So, she earned $1,000 to use as a fee for flying lessons by working many different jobs. After ten hours of instruction, Amelia was ready to fly alone.
Amelia took her first solo flight in 1921 and bought her own plane a year after. Still, flying was only a hobby at hers; she still taught English at the Denison House. However, from June 17 to 18, 1928, Amelia was a passenger on a plane called Friendship that flew from America to England. She became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Her story of the flight was covered by publisher George Putnam, whom Amelia later married in 1931.
From May 20 to 21, 1932, Amelia crossed the Atlantic solo and also established a new time record for the flight: 13.5 hours. For this feat, she received a medal from president Herbert Hoover.
A few years after 1932, Amelia became the first woman to fly successfully from Hawaii to California. Then, in June 1937, Amelia and navigator Fred Noonan set out to fly around the world. They left Miami, Florida, and passed South America, Africa, Thailand, Singapore, Java, and Australia. But when they left New Guinea for Howland Island, they disappeared. The only thing left was a frantic message to the US Coast Guard at 8:45 p.m. on July 2, 1937.
Amelia Earhart, Fred Noonan, and Amelia's plane were never found. In 1939, Amelia's husband, George Putnam, wrote a book in tribute to her titled Soaring Wings.
