| Amelia Earhart | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Amelia Mary Earhart |
|
Born |
July 24, 1897 |
|
Disappeared |
July 2, 1937 |
|
Declared Dead |
January 5, 1939 |
Origin[]
Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Vega 5B airplane.
Amelia Earhart was an American aviation pioneer who on July 2, 1937, disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her life, Earhart embraced celebrity culture and women's rights, and since her disappearance, she has become a global cultural icon.She was the first female aviator to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean and set many other records. She was one of the first aviators to promote commercial air travel, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots.
Earhart was born and raised in Atchison, Kansas, and developed a passion for adventure at a young age, steadily gaining flying experience from her twenties. In 1928, she became a celebrity after becoming the first female passenger to cross the Atlantic by airplane. In 1932, Earhart became the first woman to make a nonstop, solo, transatlantic flight and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for her achievement. In 1935, she became a visiting faculty member of Purdue University as an advisor in aeronautical engineering and a career counselor to female students. She was a member of the National Woman's Party and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.She was one of the most-inspirational American figures from the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s; her legacy is often compared to that of the early career of pioneer aviator Charles Lindbergh, as well as First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt for their close friendship and lasting influence on women's causes.
Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Model 10 Electra airplane in which she she disappeared in July 1937.
In 1937, during an attempt to become the first woman to complete a circumnavigational flight of the globe in a Lockheed Model 10-E Electra airplane, Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared near Howland Island in the central Pacific Ocean. The two were last seen in Lae, New Guinea, their last land stop before Howland Island. It is generally presumed they ran out of fuel, crashed into the ocean and died near Howland Island. Nearly one year and six months after she and Noonan disappeared, Earhart was officially declared dead.
The mysterious nature of Earhart's disappearance has caused public interest in her life to remain significant. Earhart's airplane has never been found and this has led to speculation and conspiracy theories about the outcome of the flight. Decades after her presumed death, Earhart was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1968 and the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1973. Several commemorative memorials in the United States have been named in her honor; these include a commemorative US airmail stamp, an airport, a museum, a bridge, a cargo ship, an earth-fill dam, a playhouse, a library, and multiple roads and schools. She also has a minor planet, planetary corona, and newly discovered lunar crater named after her. Numerous films, documentaries, and books have recounted Earhart's life, and she is ranked ninth on Flying's list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Amelia Earhart from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- 48 Famous Americans (nn)
- Picture Progress v2 #1
- It Really Happened #5
- Air Fighters Comics v1 #2
- True Comics #52
Notes[]
- The events surrounding Earhart and Noonan's disappearance are dramatized in the science fictiontelevision show Star Trek: Voyager, episode "The 37's" (1995), with Sharon Lawrence portraying Earhart.
- Lego produced a limited run of Amelia's "Little Red Bus" Lego Model Number 40450.
- Earhart was one of several inspiring women who are represented in a line of Barbie dolls introduced on March 6, 2018.
- Team Fortress 2 features Amelia Earhart in their comic A Cold Day in Hell. The mercenaries find her plane crashed in Sibera.