Amelia Earhart

Amelia Mary Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1932, cementing a reputation she had been building since her first flight in 1920. At a time when aviation and independence were both considered male domains, she claimed both with quiet certainty. She held numerous speed and altitude records, wrote bestselling accounts of her flights, and encouraged women to pursue careers in aviation. She disappeared over the central Pacific during her attempted circumnavigation in 1937, leaving a mystery that endures.