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Amelia Earhart was an American pilot. She was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean on her own.

Early Life
Amelia Earhart was born on 24th July 1897 in the USA. When she was a little girl, her grandparents looked after her. When she was 10, she went to live with her mother. In 1917, Amelia went to Toronto in Canada. She became a nurse . She helped soldiers who were hurt in the First World War. In 1920, she went to live with her parents in California. One day, her father took her to an aeroplane show. She flew in an aeroplane over Los Angeles. From that day on, she knew she wanted to fly. She took flying lessons and in 1921 she bought an aeroplane. It was bright yellow so she called it The Canary.

Fame
In 1926 she became the first woman to fly over the Atlantic Ocean. She did not fly the plane - she was a passenger. But when the plane landed in Wales, she became very famous. She made lots of speeches in London and in the USA. She wrote a book. She appeared in magazines and in newspapers. People called her The Queen of the Air.

Atlantic Flight
Amelia wanted to fly over the Atlantic Ocean on her own. On 20th May 1932 she left Newfoundland. 15 hours later, she landed in a field in Northern Ireland. A farmer asked her have you flown far? She replied from America! There is now a museum about her in the field. She was the first woman to fly on her own over the Atlantic Ocean. She was now one of the most famous people in the world. She wrote more books about flying. She also started a group for women pilots called The Ninety-Nines. She taught at Purdue University. She even took the presidents wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, in an aeroplane. In 1935 she became the first person to fly from Hawaii to California. Then she became the first person to fly from Mexico City to New York.

Disappearance
In 1937, she decided to fly around the world in a plane. On 1st June 1937 she left Florida. Then she flew to Africa, Calcutta, Bangkok, Singapore and Australia. But on 2nd July 1937 her plane disappeared near Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean. People think that Amelia got lost and her plane ran out of petrol. The plane probably crashed in the sea. Lots of ships looked for the plane but it was never found. Amelia was never seen again.

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