Photos: The Incredible Life and Times of Amelia Earhart

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A place in history

Amelia Earhart stands in front of her bi-plane called "Friendship" in Newfoundland, Canada, on June 14, 1928.

(Image credit: Getty)

Check out these photos of the incredible life and times of Amelia Earhart.

In the beginning

A photo of pilot Amelia Earhart as a baby, taken in Indianapolis, Indiana.

(Image credit: Hulton Archive/Getty)

Amelia Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas, on July 24, 1897. This baby photo was taken in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Hooked on flying

American pilot Amelia Earhart standing next to a bank of cars carrying equipment, circa 1935.

(Image credit: Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty)

In December 1920, Earhart attended an air show in Long Beach, California, where she took a flight that changed her outlook on life. "By the time I had got two or three hundred feet off the ground, I knew I had to fly," she said.

Here, Earhart stands next to a bank of cars carrying equipment, circa 1935.

Amelia and Fred

Amelia Earhart with her navigator, Captain Fred Noonan, in the hangar at Parnamerim airfield in Natal, Brazil, on June 11, 1937.

(Image credit: Topical Press Agency/Getty)

Earhart is pictured here with her navigator, Captain Fred Noonan, in the hangar at Parnamerim airfield in Natal, Brazil, on June 11, 1937.

Pioneer

Amelia Earhart is the first woman to make a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

(Image credit: Sasha/Getty)

On May 20, 1932, Earhart took off from Newfoundland and landed in Ireland almost 15 hours later, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

Last takeoff

Amelia Earhart is pictured here in 1937, before her last takeoff.

(Image credit: DOT/National Archive)

In 1937, Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, set off on an attempt to circumnavigate the world. On July 2, 1937, Earhart and Noonan were scheduled to arrive on the uninhabited Howland Island, located just north of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, but the pair never made it. The disappearance of Earhart's plane, and her presumed death, is still one of history's biggest mysteries.

Earhart is pictured here in 1937, before her last takeoff.

Celebrated aviator

Amelia Earhart poses for a portrait on May 25, 1932. Born in Kansas, Earhart was the first woman to fly an airplane solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

(Image credit: Sasha/Getty)

Earhart poses for a portrait on May 25, 1932.

At the controls

Amelia Earhart operates the controls of a flying laboratory, circa 1935.

(Image credit: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty)

This photo, circa 1935, shows Earhart at the controls of the "Flying Laboratory."

In Ireland

Aviator Amelia Earhart in the cockpit of her aeroplane at Culmore, near Derry, Ireland, after her solo Atlantic flight.

(Image credit: Topical Press Agency/Getty)

Earhart in the cockpit of her plane at Culmore, near Derry, in Ireland, after her solo Atlantic flight.

Soaring over California

The Lockheed Electra "Flying Laboratory," piloted by American aviator Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan, flies over the Golden Gate Bridge in California, at the start of a planned round-the-world flight on March 17, 1937.

(Image credit: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty)

The Lockheed Electra "Flying Laboratory," piloted by American aviator Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan, flies over the Golden Gate Bridge in California, at the start of a planned round-the-world flight on March 17, 1937.

Setting records

Amelia Earhart is surrounded by a crowd of wellwishers and pressmen upon her arrival at Hanworth airfield after crossing the Atlantic. In this photo, she is being congratulated by Andrew Mellon, U.S. ambassador to Britain.

(Image credit: Topical Press Agency/Getty)

Earhart is surrounded by a crowd of wellwishers and pressmen upon her arrival at Hanworth airfield after crossing the Atlantic. In this photo, she is being congratulated by Andrew Mellon, U.S. ambassador to Britain.

Denise Chow
Denise Chow
Live Science Contributor

Denise Chow was the assistant managing editor at Live Science before moving to NBC News as a science reporter, where she focuses on general science and climate change. Before joining the Live Science team in 2013, she spent two years as a staff writer for Space.com, writing about rocket launches and covering NASA's final three space shuttle missions. A Canadian transplant, Denise has a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto, and a master's degree in journalism from New York University.