Dale’s Daily Data: Amelia Earhart’s Feat

It was the first time anybody ever tried it and back in those days you'd almost have to be crazy to do it.  Turns out it was a woman who did it.  Inspired by the promise of a 10-thousand dollar award, Amelia Earhart left Honolulu, Hawaii, on a solo flight to North America. The next day, after traveling 2,400 miles in 18 hours, she safely landed at Oakland Airport in Oakland, California on this date in 1935.

Amelia Earhart was already famous though.  Less than three years earlier, she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, closely following the route Charles Lindbergh took and she was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross by the U.S. Congress.

Two years after her Hawaii to California flight, she attempted with co-pilot Fred Noonan to fly around the world, but her plane was lost somewhere in the South Pacific. They had already traveled 22-thousand miles and had 7-thousand more to go when radio operators picked up a signal that she was low on fuel – it was the last the world would ever hear from Amelia Earhart.  9 Navy ships and 66 airplanes searched for more than two weeks before it was called off. 

During one of the stops on her final flight, she wrote home to her husband saying she was aware of the hazards.  But women must try to do the things men have tried.  When they fail, it must be a challenge to others.

SOURCE:  History Channel