Amelia Earhart was a well-known woman who was very daring and broke many records.
Amelia was born in 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. She had a big black dog named James Ferocious and a little sister named Muriel. Young Amelia and Muriel had fun catching frogs and playing sports like baseball and soccer. Amelia even learned how to shoot rats in her dad’s barn!
Though it seems weird, Amelia actually didn’t have any early interests in flying. At first she went to college at Ogontz School, but then dropped out to be a nurse in World War l because she heard how the soldiers were suffering. After her nursing job, she studied mechanics- after that, she studied medicines. She finally thought medicines were for her. But then Amelia’s dad took her to a plane show and Amelia went on her first flight. After that, she knew she wanted to fly. Amelia worked hard, and soon, along with some of her mother’s money, she as able to pay for flying lessons. Soon after, she bought her own bright yellow plane and named it The Canary. When Amelia got her pilot’s license, she was the 16th woman to do so.
In 1928, Amelia was invited to go on a flight from America to Wales. She was only the navigator, but when the plane made it to Wales and back to America again, she was welcomed as a hero because she was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic . Amelia even had a parade! And to top that, she got invited to the White House after the parade! But even with all the fame, Amelia wasn’t satisfied. She wanted to make the flight alone- the same flight that Charles Lindbergh had made 5 years ago. This flight was very dangerous. There were storms and high winds. She made the flight, but had to end it too soon, landing in Northern Ireland instead of Paris.
Amelia did many more flights and broke a lot of records, including being the first person to fly alone from Hawaii to California.
Even though she was the most famous woman pilot in the world, Amelia still wasn’t satisfied. She wanted to fly around the world alone! So, in 1937, she and her navigator took off from Miami, Florida. Everything was going smoothly until they were leaving from New Guinea to Howland Island. On the way, on July 2, 1939, their plane disappeared. People searched for weeks for them, but never found them. They were finally declared dead on January 5.
Amelia Earhart was a daring female pilot who never gave up. That is a great thing to be! And, don’t think you don’t want to be a pilot just because Amelia died on a trip around the world!