Lady Lindy

Amelia Earhart is such a huge inspiration for female aviators around the world. Earhart was born on July 24 in 1897 and grew up in Atchison, Kansas. During World War I, Earhart served as a Red Cross nurse aide in Toronto, Canada. After the war, Earhart enrolled in Columbia University in New York. In December of 1920, Earhart took her first airplane ride in California and was immediately interested in aviation. Earhart started flying lessons with a flight instructor named Neta Snook. Later in the year, she purchased her first airplane second-hand and named it The Canary followed by 5 others in her lifetime.  In 1921, she passed her flying test, and took her first flight at the Sierra Air Dome in Pasadena, California. 

In 1932, Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She left from NewFoundland, Canada, and arrived a day later in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. When she returned to the United States, on July 29, 1932, she was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross from the Vice President Charles Curtis for her flight. She was also the first woman to receive the honor. In the same year, she became the first woman to make a solo flight across the United States. 

Earhart impacted women all around the world by working to give more opportunities for women in aviation. Earhart helped create The Ninety-Nines, which is an international organization for the advancement of female pilots.

On July 2, 1937, Amelia Earhart was accompanied by Fred Noonan, a navigator. They departed Lae, New Guinea, to Tiny Howland Island as their last leg in an attempt to make a round trip of the globe. During her trip she lost contact with the New York Coast Guard. President Franklin D. Roosvelt authorized a giant two week search, to no prevail. On July 19, 1937 both Earhart and Roosvelt were pronounced lost at sea. Earhart continues to be such a big inspiration to female aviators, and a big inspiration to women in general to pursue what they want to do.