Aviator Amelia Mary Earhart (1898–1937) was born on this day in Atchison, Kansas. As a child, she dreamed of adventure and explored the world with fearless imagination. During World War I, just out of high school, she volunteered as a nurse’s aide—her first act of service, courage, and care.

Then one day, she attended an air show. A plane swooped overhead, and her heart lifted with it. She was hooked. In 1921, she made her first solo flight. “Adventure is worthwhile,” she said. “By adventuring about, you become accustomed to the unexpected.”

In 1932, Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. She left Canada in her signature red Lockheed Vega—five years to the day after Charles Lindbergh’s historic flight—and earned the nickname “Lady Lindy.”

“You haven't seen a tree,” she explained, “until you've seen its shadow from the sky.” Her flights opened new perspectives—for the world, and especially for women. She shattered ceilings at full throttle.

By 1935, she was the first person—man or woman—to fly solo from Honolulu to the U.S. mainland. “Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace,” she wrote, a line that has since become a rallying cry for dreamers everywhere.

Two years later, she attempted her boldest journey yet: the first round-the-world flight along the equator. With navigator Fred Noonan, she completed over 22,000 miles. Then, after taking off from New Guinea, her plane vanished. Her mysterious disappearance has fueled decades of speculation—but her true legacy lives in what she dared.

Amelia Earhart left behind more than records. She left a gift: the bravery to begin, the permission to try. “Women must try to do things as men have tried,” she said. “When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.”