1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi again. Welcome to this Day in History Class, 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:24,159 Speaker 1: where history waits for no one. Today is May. The 4 00:00:24,239 --> 00:00:29,920 Speaker 1: day was May twentie ninety two. Famed aviator Amelia Earhart 5 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: departed Harbor Grace, Newfoundland on her NonStop solo flight across 6 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: the Atlantic Ocean. The next day, she became the first 7 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: woman and second person ever to complete such a flight. 8 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: Just five years later, Amelia and her navigator, Fred Noonan 9 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: were declared lost at sea. While Amelia lived in Toronto, Canada, 10 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: working as a nurse's aid, she would visit the local airfield. 11 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: There she watched pilots in the Royal Flying Corps train 12 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: and her interest in flying grew. In nineteen twenty, while 13 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: Amelia was in California with her family, she rode in 14 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 1: an airplane for the first time with pilot Frank Hawks. 15 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: It was then she decided that she wanted to learn 16 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:17,119 Speaker 1: how to fly. Amelia began taking flying lessons, and soon 17 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: she decided to buy her own plane. In nineteen one, 18 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 1: she passed her flight tests and earned her National Aeronautics 19 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: Association license. In nineteen twenty two, Amelion made her first 20 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: solo flight and became the first woman to fly solo 21 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: above fourteen thousand feet. In April of nineteen eight, after 22 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: stints studying medicine and social work, Amelia received an invitation 23 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 1: to go to New York to be interviewed by publisher 24 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: George Palmer Putnam. Putnam was looking for someone to be 25 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: the first woman to fly in a plane across the 26 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 1: Atlantic as a passenger. She was selected, and she left 27 00:01:56,120 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: on June third, nineteen eight, with a male pilot and navigate. 28 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: Later her job on the trip was to keep the 29 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: planes log but the feat still got her national attention. 30 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 1: She went on lecture tours, wrote a column on aviation 31 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: for Cosmopolitan, and did product endorsements. That same year, she 32 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: became the first woman to fly solo east and west 33 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: across the United States. In nineteen thirty, ear hearts set 34 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,919 Speaker 1: a new speed record for women, and in nineteen thirty 35 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:28,080 Speaker 1: one she set an altitude record in an auto gyro, 36 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: an aircraft that was eventually superseded by the helicopter. But 37 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: Amelia decided she wanted to fly solo across the Atlantic again, 38 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: this time as the pilot rather than a passenger. On two, 39 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,799 Speaker 1: Amelia left Harbor Grace in a red Lockey Vega five B. 40 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 1: Though the first few hours of her flight went pretty smoothly, 41 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 1: later she did have some trouble. She ran into an 42 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: electrical storm, the altimeter failed, the wings iced, and the 43 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: plane went into a tailspin in for three thousand feet, 44 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: so she had to land in Northern Ireland rather than 45 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: Paris as she had originally planned. Fifteen hours and fifty 46 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,959 Speaker 1: six minutes after she took off from Newfoundland, she landed 47 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:15,239 Speaker 1: in a pasture near Londonderry, Northern Ireland. When she got 48 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: back to the United States, she got a lot of recognition. 49 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: Congress gave her the Distinguished Flying Cross, a military decoration 50 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:27,360 Speaker 1: given to someone for their heroism or extraordinary achievement. While 51 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: in a fight. In August of nineteen thirty two, she 52 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: set a speed record on a NonStop fight across the 53 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:38,839 Speaker 1: United States from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey. Over 54 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:42,560 Speaker 1: the next few years, Amelia would continue setting records. She 55 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: went on to do daredevil stunts, became a visiting faculty 56 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: member at Purdue University, and helped form the ninety nine, 57 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: an organization for the advancement of female pilots. But Amelia 58 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: wanted to fly around the world at or near the equator, 59 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: since it had not been done, but four after one 60 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: called off attempt to circumnavigate the globe. In March of 61 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: ninety seven, Amelia flew from Oakland, California, to Miami in May, 62 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: and on June one, she left Miami with Navigator Fred Noonan. 63 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: After stops in South America, Africa, and Asia, they reached 64 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,680 Speaker 1: Lay in New Guinea at the end of June. They 65 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: had already flown tens of thousands of miles, but they 66 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: had thousands of miles left to go before they would 67 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:31,559 Speaker 1: get back to Oakland. They departed Lay on July two, 68 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: headed for Howland Island. In air Heart's last radio transmission, 69 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: she said, we are running north and south, indicating they 70 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: were searching for the island, but they did not make 71 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 1: it to the island. A rescue search turned up nothing. 72 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,359 Speaker 1: Though there has been much speculation as to what happened 73 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: to Amelia on that last faded flight, air Heart and 74 00:04:54,960 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: Noona's disappearance remains a mystery. I'm eaves jeffco in hope 75 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:02,720 Speaker 1: fully you know a little more about history today than 76 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. We love it if you left us 77 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: a comment on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook at t d 78 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:15,600 Speaker 1: i h C Podcast, Thanks for joining me on this 79 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:30,159 Speaker 1: trip through history. See you here, same place tomorrow. For 80 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the I heart 81 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 82 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:35,599 Speaker 1: favorite shows.