July 24th is Amelia Earhart Day! A pioneer in aviation who set records in numerous ways, Amelia Earhart is a well-known character in American history and an inspiration to young youngsters and girls across the globe. Enjoy her birthday with your children this summer and learn the ten most interesting facts about Amelia Earhart.
Amelia Earhart was born on July 24th, 1897. Her mother did not agree with society’s focus on being quiet, prim, and regal girls. She encouraged her daughters to participate in activities and play.
Facts About Amelia Earhart
1. Amelia Earhart’s nickname in childhood was Mellie.
Mellie was an active child and frequently had her younger twin sister Grace (nicknamed Pidge) following her while exploring trees, hunting for rats, and collecting bugs.
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2. Amelia Earhart built her roller coaster.
With the help of her uncle, Amelia constructed a ramp made of wood that resembled the roller coaster she remembers from an earlier St. Louis vacation. Amelia flew off the ramp inside the wooden box, fell, and awoke exhausted but bruised. She exclaimed to her sister, “Oh, Pidge, it’s exactly like flying!”
3. Amelia Earhart was the sixteenth woman to obtain her pilot’s license.
When she was only twenty-three, Amelia Earhart took her first flight in an airplane. It was only a couple of hundred feet. But from that point on, she set out to learn how to fly.
4. Amelia Earhart was the first woman to cross the Atlantic via plane.
On June 17th, 1928, she and a couple of male pilots took off across the Atlantic from Newfoundland, Canada, to Wales and took around 21 hours. Because Amelia did not have any experience flying planes, she was just an observer on the flight. The pilots did assign Amelia the additional responsibility of keeping a flight log. It was a significant task and earned Amelia an open, warm welcome home and an excursion to the White House.
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5. Amelia Earhart was the second woman to fly on her nonstop over the Atlantic.
Charles Lindbergh was the only person to fly through the Atlantic Ocean solo, but Amelia Earhart proved equal to the challenge. The forceful winds whipped her aircraft during the flight of 14 hours and 56 minutes. The plane also had mechanical problems before reaching an area of pasture in Northern Ireland.
6. Amelia Earhart flew solo halfway across the Pacific.
The record-breaking feat, Amelia was the first pilot to fly on her own in a solo flight from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Oakland, California. After the flight, she listened to the radio broadcasts by the Metropolitan Opera.
7. Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean.
It was 1937 when Amelia tried to travel across the globe with a single crew member Fred Noonan. Amelia completed the majority of her world trip, which was 22 thousand miles, and still had only seven thousand miles left to travel.
An encounter with the USCGC Itasca, an aircraft intended to lead Earhart to a tiny island for fueling, did not occur due to navigational and communication issues. After being lost over in the Pacific, Earhart and Noonan disappeared.
Because no one could locate either the aircraft or their remains, Amelia was legally declared dead in 1939. However, it’s possible that the remains found on an island nearby could have been hers.
8. Amelia Earhart is the subject of numerous books.
Look for illustrated books for kids like Who Was Amelia Earhart? by Kate Boehm Jerome, I Am Amelia Earhart by Brad Meltzer, and Amelia Earhart, Young Air Pioneer by Jane Moore Howe.
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9. The amazing Amelia Earhart!
To commemorate Amelia Earhart Day, your youngsters can build an easy plane with a clothespin and two craft sticks. Instruct them to paint their creations in yellow to be a tribute to Amelia’s first aircraft, the “Yellow Canary.” The kids can create a pilot’s hat in brown and aviator’s sunglasses similar to the ones Amelia was wearing from felt or paper.
