--- title: Amelia Earhart Photos and the 80-Year Search for a Pilot description: Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, vanished 80 years ago. Here’s what to know about her life and legacy. canonical: https://time.com/4829029/amelia-earhart-anniversary/ author: Liz Ronk article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-30T15:00:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:58:44.361Z article:section: History og:title: Inside Amelia Earhart's Life and 80-Year Search for Her Body og:description: And see photos from her early life og:url: https://time.com/4829029/amelia-earhart-anniversary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbfcd9a43894d570a/6988d2e6196cf4f2de040bc7/amelia-earhart-07.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Amelia Earhart og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Inside Amelia Earhart's Life and 80-Year Search for Her Body twitter:description: And see photos from her early life twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbfcd9a43894d570a/6988d2e6196cf4f2de040bc7/amelia-earhart-07.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Inside Amelia Earhart's Life and the 80-Year Search for the Trailblazing Pilot by [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) ## Liz Ronk Jun 30, 2017 3:00 PM UTC  Amelia Earhart and her husband George Palmer Putnam with friends Capt. and Mrs. J.A. Mollison on the sand in Rye, N.Y., July 29, 1933. Amelia Earhart and her husband George Palmer Putnam with friends Capt. and Mrs. J.A. Mollison on the sand in Rye, N.Y., July 29, 1933.AP Photo by [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) ## Liz Ronk Jun 30, 2017 3:00 PM UTC Amelia Earhart, the American aviator who broke barriers as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, vanished 80 years ago Sunday during an ambitious and historic attempt to circle the globe. With nearly two-thirds of the perilous trip already completed, the pioneering pilot disappeared somewhere over the Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937, after her plane fell low on fuel. To this day, her fate remains a mystery and has long been the subject of widespread international intrigue. As the search for the famed trailblazer enters its eighth decade, here’s a look at Amelia Earhart’s life and what to know about her legacy: ## Who was Amelia Earhart? Amelia Earhart was a pilot from Kansas who shattered the glass ceiling in the aviation industry in the early 1930s and set several records before her life was cut short. Earhart was born in Atchison, Kans., on July 24, 1897\. In 1932, she became the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic. A few years later, she became the first to complete the first solo flight from Hawaii to California. Earhart was also an outspoken advocate for women and helped found the Ninety-Nines, a group dedicated to advancing female aviators, according to the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum. She knew of the dangers that came with flying but pursued her passion to inspire other women, according to a letter she wrote to her husband. “Please know I am quite aware of the hazards,” she wrote, according to her [official website](http://ameliaearhart.com/biography/) run by her family. “I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.” Former U.S. Sen. Hattie Caraway, of Arkansas, memorialized Earhart as an iconic role model and one of the “most notable women of the past hundred years” during a speech she gave before the Senate in May 1938\. “She was a woman who symbolized to a remarkable degree the courage, the pioneering spirit and the broad achievements of American womanhood,” Caraway said of the pilot. ## What happened to her? Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan embarked on what they hoped would be the first around-the-world flight in early June 1937, nearing what would have been Earhart’s 40th birthday. The pair had traveled more than 22,000 miles before running into trouble on July 2\. Earhart had sent out a distress call after the plane’s fuel ran low, the [Atchison _Daily Globe_](http://www.ameliaearhartmuseum.org/AmeliaEarhart/NewsClips/clip370703.htm) reported at the time. Rescuers combed through the skies and sea for about two weeks, but the two fliers were never found. Earhart was officially [declared dead](http://time.com/3904826/amelia-earhart-search-history/) in January 1939. ## Where is she? Earhart’s exact final location has long stumped aviation historians and explorers alike. Earhart and Noonan were headed to Howland Island from Lae, New Guinea — with only 7,000 miles on their journey left to go. A group of explorers believe Earhart’s remains may be in Nikumaroro, an island near Fiji. ## What’s the latest update in the search? The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery last week [sent a team of specially trained dogs to Nikumaroro](http://time.com/4826740/amelia-earhart-dogs/), hoping the forensic hounds would be able to detect Earhart’s remains. “No other technology is more sophisticated than the dogs,” archaeologist Fred Hiebert told _National Geographic_. “They have a higher rate of success identifying things than ground-penetrating radar.” The team was set to arrive on the island Wednesday.  Baby picture of pilot Amelia Earhart, Indianapolis, Ind. 1897. Hulton Archive—Getty Images  Baby picture of pilot Amelia Earhart with a dog, a toy sled, and her cousin Otis Balis, Kansas City. 1904. Hulton Archive—Getty Images  American aviator Amelia Earhart as young girl, 1904. FPG—Getty Images  Amelia Earhart when she graduated from Ogontz School in Philadelphia in 1918. AP Photo  Amelia Earhart sits at the controls of an experimental glider before a flight at the Scripps estate 'Wildwood Farms,' Lake Orion, Mich., 1929. New York Times Co.—Getty Images  Amelia Earhart explains to children with a reduced model, the operation of the catapult to launch an aircraft on Nov. 28, 1933. Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystine via Getty Images  Amelia Earhart and her husband George Palmer Putnam with friends Capt. and Mrs. J.A. Mollison on the sand in Rye, N.Y., July 29, 1933. AP Photo  Aviator Amelia Earhart visits her mother, Amy Otis Earhart, at home in Hollywood, Calif., on Jan. 14, 1935. AP Photo  Amelia Earhart inspected the Twin-Engined Lockheed Electra Monoplane which is being built for her use in future long distance flights at the plant, May 26, 1936, Burbank, Calif. AP Photo  Amelia Earhart Putnam and her navigator Fred Noonan are seen shortly after their landing in Bandoeng, near Batavia in the Dutch East Indies, on June 21, 1937\. It was one of the last happy landings on their attempted round-the-world flight before they disappeared on July 2, under way to Howland Island, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. 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