> Charles Lindbergh was the first person to fly an airplane solo across theAtlantic Ocean. Who was the second?And the answer: Amelia Earhart. Photo credit: TOPICAL PRESS AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES.In 1932, Amelia Earhart becamethe first woman, and second person, to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. OnMay 20, she left Newfoundland, Canada, and arrived a day later, landing in a cowpasture in Northern Ireland.American aviatrix Amelia Earhart was born on July 24, 1897. From a young age,Earhart was rambunctious and active – so much so, that her mother would oftenvoice her concerns about Earhart's "un-ladylike" tendencies. However, thathardly slowed the soon-to-be pilot, and later in life it was her mother thatfinanced much of the beginning of her flight career.Interestingly, diaries that were posthumously published reveal that Earhart'sfirst encounter with flight left her unimpressed. At the Iowa State Fair in1908, Earhart describes the experience of looking at a plane as "a thing ofrusty wire and wood." It wasn't for many more years that Earhart discovered her passion for flying.However, within six months of taking her first lesson, Earhart had purchased herfirst plane: a used yellow Kinner Airster biplane she named The Canary. Earharttook lessons from another pioneering female pilot named Neta Snook, who was thefirst woman to run her own aviation business and commercial airfield.Earhart was a social worker at Denison House in Boston when she was invited tofly across the Atlantic for the first time as a passenger in 1928. While she wasthrilled to receive the invitation from promoter George Putnam, Earhart walkedaway from the experience feeling unaccomplished – even going so far as to referto herself as a "sack of potatoes" for her little contribution to the flight. However, when she returned home from her groundbreaking ride across theAtlantic, she was hailed as "Queen of the Air." She became an editor atCosmopolitan, and earned a number of celebrity endorsements. She soon began topush for her own flying achievements, and in 1928 Earhart became the first womanto fly solo across the North American continent and back. In 1931, she set aworld altitude record of 18,415 feet. On May 20, 1932, Earhart set off on thetrip that would later become her greatest achievement: a solo flight across theAtlantic. Earhart's final big flight was a doozy: a trip around the world. However, it wasduring this endeavor that the pilot met her famous end. In a loss ofcommunication near her destination, Earhart's plane disappeared. It has neverbeen recovered. In a letter written to her husband to be read in the case of herdeath, Earhart writes:> Please know I am quite aware of the hazards. I want to do it because I want todo it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, theirfailure must be but a challenge to others. Learn more about the pioneering pilot here[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6LsxtFOYFA].