Amelia Earheart, born in 1897, was a non-conformist who pursued a career in aviation. She broke several records, including being the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. In 1937, while attempting to fly around the world, she disappeared and her fate remains a mystery. The official theory is that she crashed in the Pacific, but other theories suggest she was captured by the Japanese or crashed on an inhabited island.
Amelia Earheart disappeared nearly 70 years ago, but her fate remains one of America’s greatest mysteries.
Born July 24, 1897, in Atchison, Kansas, Amelia Earheart was taught early not to conform to traditional rules. Her maternal grandfather was a former federal judge who believed girls should fight for their place in society. Amelia was not a typical girl: she preferred climbing trees to reading poetry, and sledding her own sled instead of taking leisurely country walks.
Amelia Earheart came up with the idea of pursuing a career in a male oriented field and for some time, mechanical engineering was at the top of her list. After the start of World War I, however, Amelia chose to receive training as a nurse aide, immediately gaining a position at Spadina Military Hospital in Toronto. Many speculate that it was there that her love of aviation began.
Even before earning her pilot’s license at age 24, Amelia Earheart had already broken the women’s flight record to 14,000 feet. Once she was licensed, Amelia continued to fly while she held a variety of jobs, including teaching and writing a column on flying for the local newspaper.
In 1928, Amelia Earheart accompanied pilot Wilmer Stultz on one of the first transatlantic flights. While her function on that particular flight was simply to keep the flight log, she inspired Amelia to set her own record. On May 20, 1932, Amelia Earheart broke that record, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. More record-breaking flights followed, including the one that ended in her disappearance.
On July 2, 1937, while Amelia Earheart was attempting to go around the world and land in California, her plane vanished. After leaving Lae, New Guinea, Amelia and her co-pilot lost communication with the mainland and were never seen again.
There are several theories about what happened to Amelia Earheart on that fateful morning. The official theory is that she sank in the Pacific, either due to a lack of petrol or a technical failure. This, however, does not explain why no remains of the plane or its contents were found.
One popular theory is that Amelia Earheart was captured by the Japanese while flying over the Marshall Islands. Conspiracy theorists believe that Amelia was a spy, which would explain her capture and subsequent imprisonment. Recently, a theory linking Amelia Earheart to remains found on Gardner’s Island in the central Pacific Ocean has resurfaced, leading to speculation that Amelia may have crashed and perished on then-inhabited territory.
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