Amelia Earhart, born July 24, 1897, in Atchison, Kansas, grew up upper-middle class due to her grandparent's money. However, as her father was an alcoholic, she stayed with her grandmother's a lot. It was there she became adventurous. Amelia wasn't always interested in aviation, though. After World War I, she volunteered as a nurse in the Red Cross. She typically liked helping fallen pilots which was her first major experience with aviation. At a air show, she took a plane ride and discovered that she really wanted to be a female aviator, despite the fact that, in the twenties, female pilots were not exactly common. She was, in fact, only the sixteenth woman to ever receive a pilot's license. She eventually became such a good aviator that she broke seven speed and distance records for women. In 1928, she was selected by Captain H. Railey to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. While not to her liking, she was just a passenger because it was supposedly too dangerous for women to pilot a plane that distance. Taking off on May 30, 1932, Earhart flew from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, to Northern Ireland. By doing this she was the first female ever to fly across the Atlantic. She also made a trip from Hawaii to California, as well. This would make her the first woman to fly across the Pacific Ocean. She also tried to circumnavigate the equator. On July 3, 1937, she went missing and they have never been able to recover her plane. On January 5, 1939, Earhart was pronounced dead.
Impact
Amelia Earhart wasn't just the first women to fly solo across the Pacific and Atlantic, she was a very powerful and influencing figure. She changed the stereotypes for women in many ways. She wore clothing that wasn't very typical for girls, such as pants and she cut her hair shorter than what was usually allowed. She also broke the mold of men being the only ones that could pilot a plane. She proved that women can be aviators, and flying across the Atlantic and Pacific wasn't too dangerous for women. Women were not fragile and incapable. She served to open the door for women to take a more active role in their own destinies by serving as a high profile example of a woman daring to go after a typically "male" dream. She was a pioneer for gender equality.