Amelia Earhart: The Kansas Girl Who Flew Into History and Disappeared Into Mystery

Smithsonian Portrait of Amelia Earhart 1932

NWKS Radio's takes a look at Today in History--- Amelia Earhart.

Today in History takes us back 94 years to a record-setting flight by one of the most famous Kansans in history.

On August 24, 1932, Amelia Earhart took off from Los Angeles in her bright red Lockheed Vega and headed east. When she landed in Newark, New Jersey, the following day, she had become the first woman to fly solo and nonstop across the United States.

The trip took 19 hours and 5 minutes and covered roughly 2,450 miles. It was another major accomplishment in what had already been a remarkable year for Earhart. Just three months earlier, she became the first woman to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean.

A Kansas Girl Who Made Aviation History

Earhart's story began right here in Kansas.

She was born July 24, 1897, in Atchison, Kansas. Even as a child, Earhart had an adventurous streak. The future pilot eventually learned to fly in California, earned her pilot's license and began setting aviation records at a time when very few women were in the cockpit.

By 1932, the Kansas native was one of the most recognizable aviators in the world.

But it is how her story ends that has fascinated people for nearly 90 years.

Library of Congress Amelia Earhart photo

A Flight With No Ending

In 1937, Earhart set out on her biggest challenge yet: an attempt to fly around the world. Her navigator, Fred Noonan, joined her aboard a Lockheed Electra.

On July 2, 1937, Earhart and Noonan took off from Lae, New Guinea, headed toward tiny Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean.

They never arrived.

Earhart was in radio contact as the aircraft approached the area, but she and Noonan disappeared somewhere over the Pacific. A massive search followed, but no confirmed trace of Earhart, Noonan or their airplane was found.

The Smithsonian says the explanation most consistent with the known facts is that Earhart and Noonan were unable to locate Howland Island, ran out of fuel and went down in the Pacific. Still, numerous competing theories have surfaced through the decades, and the disappearance remains one of aviation's greatest mysteries.

What isn't a mystery is Amelia Earhart's place in history.

On this day in 1932, a woman born in Atchison, Kansas, climbed into an airplane in California and flew nonstop across America, adding another record to a career that continues to fascinate the world nearly a century later.