Amelia Earhart was born in her grandparents’ house, high on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River, on July 24, 1897. There was nothing particularly remarkable about her birth or her childhood, but one day Amelia Earhart would become one of the most famous women in America.
In 1937, she disappeared without a trace over the Pacific Ocean as she was attempting to become the first woman to fly around the world. She had planned to take a new, longer route along the Equator. No one had ever attempted this route before. With Earhart was her longtime friend, Ed Noonan, who was an experienced navigator.
On June 29th, Earhart and Noonan arrived in New Guinea. By this time they had been traveling almost six weeks and had covered 22,000 miles. Next they were due to fly 2,556 miles over the Pacific Ocean to Howland Island. The island is so tiny it is barely visible on a map, so it would be difficult for Earhart and Noonan to locate it from the air.
Earhart and Noonan left New Guinea on July 2nd. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca was waiting near the island so seamen aboard the cutter could guide Earhart’s plane in for landing.
The Itasca received several radio messages from Earhart and they replied, but she never acknowledged having heard them. Finally, after more than five hours since her first message, she radioed that she was receiving their signals. But her message was so brief the Itasca could not pinpoint her location. The crew tried to reach Earhart on many different radio frequencies but they received no further word. Amelia Earhart and Ed Noonan simply vanished.
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Suzanne Lieurance is a children’s author, freelance writer, and writing coach with over 12 published books for children.
