This picture shows a young Amelia Earhart at only 7 years old. She became interested in flying after seeing a demonstration at a state fair when she was 10. When pilot Frank Hawks took her for a plane ride on Dec. 28, 1920, Amelia's fate was sealed: She would become a pilot.
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In 1925, Amelia poses in the cockpit of her plane. She became the 16th woman in the world to obtain her pilot's license. While Amelia is remembered as a renowned aviatrix, some historians say that her enthusiasm for flying was far greater than her skill.
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Amelia displays a chart of the route she'll take for her first transatlantic flight. Amelia didn't actually fly the plane, however. She served as "commander" (a glorified passenger) to garner publicity and endorsements for future flights.
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On June 1, 1928, Amelia is presented with a fresh-flower replica of the plane Friendship at London's Hyde Park Hotel. Nicknamed "Lady Lindy," her popularity swelled after the famous transatlantic flight, which was the first undertaken with a woman on board.
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After the transatlantic flight, Amelia had fans of all ages. During a visit to Toynbee Hall in London on June 22, 1928, she received a warm welcome from the children of the East End.
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Amelia poses in Newfoundland in 1928. Her aviatrix glamour lent femininity and drew media attention to the aviation industry.
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The Friendship, Amelia's seaplane, wasn't her first airplane. She bought the Canary in 1921 and used it to set her first world record by flying 14,000 feet (4,267 meters).
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After their nonstop transatlantic flight, Amelia and pilots Wilmer Stultz (third from left) and Louis "Slim" Gordon (second from right) greet the press on June 19, 1928.
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In Southampton, England, police hold the frenzied media at bay. Looking at this image, one can understand the level of excitement that surrounded the news of the crew's successful transatlantic flight.
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On May 24, 1932, Amelia posed with the Gallagher family in Culmore near Derry, Ireland. She landed in the family's field after becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
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Captain Hilton H. Railey, with whom Amelia poses on the roof of London's Hyde Park Hotel, was instrumental in connecting Earhart with Stultz and Gordon and encouraging her to be party to their flight.
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Amelia was a role model for children around the world, especially young girls. Here, she discusses aeronautics with young students from Newark, N.J., in November of 1933.
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Amelia poses with Captain A.N. White in Northolt, London. In addition to posing for photographs with her plane, Amelia kept busy by writing for Cosmopolitan magazine and lecturing at venues across the United States. Also, Purdue University offered her a position as a women's career counselor in 1935.
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It's not exactly the Ascot scene from "My Fair Lady," but Amelia is dressed for the races and shows off her attire at the home of Mrs. Guest in Park Lane, London.
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Amelia flies a Moth plane en route to Northolt, London. Her preferred aircraft was a Lockheed Vega, but she opted to fly the Lockheed Electra on her last flight, a copycat mission of Lindbergh's round-the-world voyage.
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On July 9, 1928, Amelia's mother, Amelia Otis, joins her in Boston after the famous transatlantic flight. She must have been very proud of her daughter, who would later be awarded the National Geographic Society gold medal from Herbert Hoover and the Distinguished Flying Cross from Congress.
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Amelia enjoys a quiet moment at Lake Orion in Michigan as she prepares to fly an experimental glider at the Wildwood Farms Estate in 1929. When Amelia flew on long solo flights, she traveled lightly, with just some broth and smelling salts to keep her alert and awake.
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Amelia poses with other competitors from the Cleveland National Air Races in August 1929. She was one of the founding members and a president of the Ninety-Nines, a women's aviation group. The Ninety-Nines offered support for one other as women gained ground in the aviation industry. One of their campaigns was to overturn a government proposal to ban women from flying during menstruation.
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On Feb. 7, 1931, Amelia married her publisher and publicist, George Putnam. The union was slightly scandalous; Putnam was married to his first wife when he and Earhart became romantically involved. After his divorce was finalized in 1929, he proposed to Amelia, who conceived of their marriage as a "partnership dual control."
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Two stars bask in the glow of each other's celebrity: Amelia and actor Cary Grant in 1933.
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By her 40th birthday, Amelia made the decision to undertake a flight around the world. She recruited Fred Noonan, who had some experience navigating in the Pacific, as her partner. Some historians say Amelia tapped Noonan (a rumored drunkard) because he didn't demand much money. Here, Amelia stops in Calcutta, India.
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Here, Amelia Earhart and navigator Noonan pause for a photo just prior to the infamous final flight. When the plane went missing, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered a massive $4 million naval search for Earhart and Noonan.
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This coral atoll gives you an idea of how challenging it was to land a plane in the Pacific. With just 7,000 miles (11,265 kilometers) left to go, Amelia was scheduled to land on Howland Island, an atoll that's just a mile and half long and a half-mile wide. She never made it to Howland, though. Amelia Earhart disappeared around July 2, 1937, and she was declared dead on Jan. 5, 1939.
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Amelia's fame did not fade in the years following her death, and she continued to be a role model for children with dreams of flying. Here, she's depicted in a cartoon on the cover of the children's magazine TinTin in August 1956.
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Hilary Swank brought America's favorite historical aviatrix to the silver screen in the movie "Amelia," which was released in October 2009 and gave viewers a look at Amelia's life.
Now that you've whetted your aviation appetite, check out our Ascent of the Airplane gallery!
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