Born: 24 July 1897
Disappeared: 2 July 1937
Nationality: American
Amelia Earhart, arguably the most famous female pilot of all time, was born in Kansas, USA. Amelia's first "flight" was when she was just seven years old. With the help of her uncle she made a homemade roller coaster. After crashing dramatically she told her sister that it "was just like flying".
In 1920 Amelia and her father visited an air show in California. Amelia went on her first plane flight that day. Amelia worked hard to be able to pay for flying lessons. Eventually she purchased her own plane. She also got her pilot's license and set a new altitude record for female pilots of 14,000 feet.
In 1928 Amelia was invited to take part in a historic flight across the Atlantic. Amelia flew across the Atlantic Ocean in the airplane Friendship. She was the navigator on the flight. After 21h of flying, the plane landed in Wales. She was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.
Amelia wanted to make the same trip across the Atlantic, but this time she wanted to pilot the plane and make the flight by herself. In 1932 she took off from Newfoundland. The flight was very dangerous. 14h later she had crossed the Atlantic Ocean, but had to cut the flight short, landing in a cow pasture in Northern Ireland.
She received many awards, including becoming the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross from Congress. Amelia continued to fly over the next years. She wrote and gave speeches about flying and women's rights.
Although she was the most famous female pilot in the world, Earhart wanted to be the first woman to fly around the world. In June 1937 Amelia and Fred Noonan, her navigator, took off from Miami, Florida. On 2 July they took off from New Guinea to fly to Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean, but they were never seen again.