American aviator and the first woman to fly alone over the Atlantic Ocean.

Although involved with flying from her early twenties, Earhart worked as a military nurse in Canada during the First World War and later as a social worker in Boston. In 1928 she bought an Avro Avian airplane and became the first woman to make a solo return flight across the American continent.

From then on, she continued to set and break her own speed and distance records. In 1932 Earhart became a household name when she flew across the Atlantic alone in a Lockheed Vega airplane. She was the first woman and only the second person to achieve this. In 1935 Earhart became the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California. She received numerous accolades and awards for her endeavours.

In 1937 she set out with a navigator, Fred Noonan, to fly around the world in a Lockheed 10E Electra. They had completed over two-thirds of the distance when the plane disappeared, without trace, in the central Pacific Ocean. No physical evidence has ever been found. Speculation about Earhart's fate continues to the present.