Amelia Earhart, pictured here next to one of her beloved planes, was born on July 24, 1897. She rode in her first airplane in 1920 and decided that very day she needed to learn to fly. Only days later she signed up for flying lessons and mere months later bought her first airplane, which she affectionately nicknamed, "The Canary". She would go on to break world flying records and serve as a role model to millions of women the world over.

In this video see newsreel footage covering Amelia Earhart's many accomplishments, records, and famous persona. This concise recap of her fame and disappearance features beautiful video footage of some of Amelia's flights along with still photos of the aviatrix.

On June 1, 1937, Amelia Earhart and navigator, Fred Noonan took off in a twin engine Lockheed Electra plane from Miami. Her goal: To be the first woman to fly around the world. Their 29,000-mile trip would follow a long equatorial route during which the duo would make pit stops in several locations across the continents of South America, Africa, and Asia.

The trip was relatively smooth and without event when Earhart and Noonan landed in Lae, New Guinea on June 29, 1937. With the bulk of the trip behind them, the duo faced the last 7,000 miles flying over the waters of the Pacific Ocean. On July 2, 1937 the plane once again took to the air, departing Lae in their very heavily loaded plane. The next intended stop was Howland Island, a tiny piece of land in the Pacific Ocean that had been set up specially as a runway and refueling station for Earhart's journey.

The plane never reached Howland Island, though. The United States Coast Guard received one of the last known transmission from Earhart at 7:42am, with the pilot signaling that she was unable to hear any incoming communications: "We must be on you, but cannot see you -- but gas is running low. Have been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet." Following that were some Morse code communications in which Earhart attempted to determine the direction they were headed in. Communications from there were mostly garbled, with Earhart seeming confused not only about her location, but also about which frequency she was broadcasting on.

A short time later communications ceased entirely, and the plane was lost. To this date no evidence has been found of the plane, Earhart, or Noonan's final resting place. The events that lead to their disappearance remain mysterious and controversial.

She departed from Lae, Papua New Guinea on July 2, 1937 en route to the uninhabited Howland Island. As far as anyone knows, she never reached Howland Island.

(map courtesy of aerospaceweb.org)

Although commonly believed that during the final flight, Earhart's plane was lost and out of fuel, causing them to crash into the Pacific, other theories persist as to what actually happened to the pilot and her plane:

1. Amelia Earhart was secretly a spy for the United States and was actually on a mission to photograph pre-WWII Japanese military installations. When the Japanese discovered her, she was shot down, captured, and eventually executed by the Japanese military. Supporting this theory, there were several eyewitness accounts of seeing Earhart and Noonan in Japanese custody, but each account has been of questionable veracity.

2. Earhart's disappearance was staged by the United States government as an excuse to conduct a thorough search of South Pacific waters as a WWII was closing in. This theory, which suggests that Earhart was in on the plan, was brought to life in the film, "Flight for Freedom", starring Rosalind Russell.

3. Earhart and Noonan crash landed on a remote island and survived there for an undisclosed period of time before perishing.http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Explorers_Record_Setters_and_Daredevils/earhart/EX29.htm http://www.check-six.com/lib/Famous_Missing/Earhart.htm

Credible evidence has been building in years past to suggest that Amelia Earhard and navigator, Fred Noonan may have died on land, on the uninhabited Nikumaroro Island, part of the republic of Kiribati in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.

Leading the investigation into this theory is The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR). They have been working off of reports from 1940 that a British Colonial Service officers found part of a skeleton on a very remote part of the island that might not have been noticed by rescue planes. Since 1940, the skeleton has been lost and therefore no testing can be done to prove whether or not it was Earhart's skeleton. However, notes about the skeleton indicate that it was from the body of a female of European descent, and was similar to the stature of Earhart.

In addition to the skeleton, there is other evidence that Amelia may have perished on the island. A United States naval officer who was part of the search effort trying to find Amelia made note of "recent habitation" on the uninhabited island. http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/10/23/amelia-earhart-02.html For reasons unknown, no one followed up on this sighting.

Some artifacts were also found on Nikumaroro Island suggesting that Amelia may have landed there. Artifacts include a woman's 1930s-style shoe, a sextant box with serial numbers possibly linking it to Noonan. Both artifacts have been lost since approximately 1941. Knowledge of their existence and details of their condition survive from 1941 telegrams detailing the finds.

Also helping to build the argument for this theory is that according to TIGHAR, over 200 radio signals, many possibly coming from Earhart's craft, were received days after she disappeared. None of them were decipherable or helpful, but they do point to the aircraft having been on land.

If this theory is correct, then Amelia Earhart may have landed there after realizing she was short on fuel. She and Noonan may have tried to survive on the island and radio for help from Amelia's airplane for days after the disappearance. Earhart and Noonan may have perished from injuries, dehydration, starvation, infection, poisoning from the local wilderness, or from accidents on the island.

TIGHAR plans to launch an expedition in the Summer of 2010 to collect more evidence of Earhart's stay on Nikumaroro Island.

Nikumaroro Island is located about 300 miles southeast of Howland Island, where Amelia was supposed to land for refueling.

Amelia Earhart helped found a club in 1929 for the advancement of women pilots. Originally founded by 99 different women fliers, Amelia was named as the first President of the group. Amelia's legacy continues today, as The Ninety Nines still work to provide "networking and scholarship opportunities for women and aviation education in the community and preserve the unique history of women in aviation."http://www.ninety-nines.org/

(pictured at left, the Ninety Nines logo)

This is a recording of Amelia's voice describing her vision for the role of women and flying. She discusses the latest innovations in the world of flying during her time and how accessible the new flying technology could be to women. This prepared speech is telling of her strong and important role in the future of women's rights and the future of flying.

"After midnight the moon set and I was alone with the stars. I have often said that the lure of flying is the lure of beauty, and I need no other flight to convince me that the reason flyers fly, whether they know it or not, is the esthetic appeal of flying."

"Preparation, I have often said, is rightly two-thirds of any venture."

"The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do, and the more genuine may be one's appreciation of fundamental things like home, and love, and understanding companionship."

"[Women] must pay for everything.... They do get more glory than men for comparable feats. But, also, women get more notoriety when they crash."

"Adventure is worthwhile in itself."

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward."

"In my life I had come to realize that when things were going very well indeed it was just the time to anticipate trouble. And, conversely, I learned from pleasant experience that at the most despairing crisis, when all looked sour beyond words, some delightful "break" was apt to lurk just around the corner."

"Never interrupt someone doing something you said couldn't be done." http://www.ameliaearhart.com/about/quotes.html

This is a publicity still from the upcoming 2009 movie, "Amelia", a biopic starring Hilary Swank as Amelia, and Richard Gere as her husband, George Putnam.

• Official Site: Amelia Earhart Quotes
• Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum: Fun Facts
• TIME: Will the Real Amelia . . . (November 23, 1970)
• Purdue University: George Palmer Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers
• IMDb Search: Amelia Earhart
• • This page was created by Lindsay, a Part Time Guide in the Mahalo Greenhouse (see the original), and curated by Cherryl.

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1. National Geographic: Where Is Amelia Earhart? Three Theories
   news.nationalgeographic.com  (December 15, 2003)
2. Wikipedia: Amelia Earhart
   en.wikipedia.org
3. Ninety-Nines: Amelia Earhart
   ninety-nines.org
4. Official Site: Amelia Earhart
   ameliaearhart.com
5. Department of the Navy: Amelia Earhart
   history.navy.mil
6. YouTube Video: Amelia Earhart: 1897 to 1937 (Time: 1:35)
   youtube.com
7. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery: The Earhart Project
   tighar.org

• 
  Adventure is worthwhile. -Amelia Earhart
  @paulvharris | November 11, 2009 02:06 AM
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  Random: So. Are any budding filmmakers willing to make an intimate portrayal of Amelia Earhart to make up for that last piece of crap?
  @ahuntre | November 11, 2009 01:48 AM
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  RT @aliciamalone "Amelia" - my thoughts on the biopic of aviatrix (love that word) Amelia Earhart: http://aliciamalone.blogspo...
  @JessLomas | November 11, 2009 01:35 AM
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  "Amelia" - my thoughts on the biopic of aviatrix (love that word) Amelia Earhart: http://aliciamalone.blogspot.com/
  @aliciamalone | November 11, 2009 12:52 AM
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  It is far easier to start something than it is to finish it. - Amelia Earhart
  @LivLifByMyRulz1 | November 11, 2009 12:14 AM