Amelia Earhart
Disappeared at 39 (July 2, 1937)
The first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean. Her plane and remains were never located. This photo was taken just before embarking on her last flight.
In her last known transmission to the USCGC Itasca during the doomed flight, Earhart said “We are on the line 157 337. We will repeat this message. We will repeat this on 6210 kilocycles. Wait.” Minutes later she got back on to say “We are running on line north and south.”
The commonly-held theory is that Earhart’s twin-engined Lockheed Electra had run out of fuel and crashed in the Pacific Ocean, somewhere near her final destination of Howland Island. The search is still on for any signs of her or the plane. In March 2018, researchers announced that bones found on an island in 1940 were “99% likely” to be Earhart’s.
