In the early days of aviation, one woman flew higher than all the rest: Amelia Earhart, who set (and broke) a dozen records for speed and distance while blazing a trail for female pilots in the male-dominated field. When she became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean in 1928, she was not content with having been merely a passenger—and four years later, she pulled off her own solo trans-Atlantic journey. As she set her sights higher, Amelia eyed her next historic achievement, a flight around the world, in 1937. With millions following along every step of the way in the newspapers, the female aviator (and her navigator, Fred Noonan) was within reach of her goal when her plane vanished on July 2, 1937, over the vast Pacific Ocean. In these pages, Amelia’s aviation love story is told, from the beginning—as an adventurous girl who built a roller coaster when she was 7—to a tragic end, just weeks before her 40th birthday. She packed more ambition and accomplishment into her years than most see in a lifetime, also authoring several books, fighting for women’s rights and even designing her own fashion line sold at stores like Macy’s. Today, almost 90 years later, the mystery of Amelia’s last flight remains: What really happened the day her plane disappeared? Take a look back at the massive search by air and sea, and the most likely scenario—plus new developments in the case. She knew there were hazards, but she had to find out for herself rather than always wonder. “I want to do it because I want to do it,” Amelia explained in a letter to her concerned husband, George Putnam. “Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.”
