A journalist snapped this picture of Amelia Earhart and her husband in Los Angeles just before Earhart's first ill-fated attempt to fly around the world. Taking off in Oakland, California, on March 17, 1935, Earhart flew first to Honolulu, Hawaii. She crashed during take-off in Honolulu several days later, severely damaging her twin-engine Lockheed Electra 10E and effectively ending her attempt; this AP wire photo appeared with the March 20 announcement of the crash. Born on July 24, 1897, in Atchison, Kansas, Earhart became the first female pilot to complete a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932. Completing the trip in 14 hours, 56 minutes, Earhart set a record for speed in the first of three record-setting transatlantic flights. After her failed 1935 attempt to fly around the world, she set out again in 1937. Earhart and her navigator, Frederick Noonan, completed the first 22,000 miles of the trip without problems. Embarking on the last 7,000 miles, they took off from Lae, New Guinea, on July 2, 1937. In one of the great mysteries of the 20th century, Earhart and Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean without a trace. The entire nation mourned the loss of the engaging aviator.
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