Amelia Earhart accomplished a lot of "firsts."

In her brief career, Amelia Earhart broke numerous aviation records. When she flew solo above 14,000 feet for the first time in 1922, she set her first record.

Earhart crossed the Atlantic Ocean alone for the first time in 1932, and just behind Charles Lindbergh. She flew from Newfoundland, Canada, to a cow pasture outside Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on May 20 in a red Lockheed Vega 5B, where she landed the following day. Congress presented her with the Distinguished Flying Cross upon her return to the country, a military honor given for "heroism or remarkable achievement while engaging in an airborne flight." The distinction was given to her for the first time. Later that year, Amelia Earhart completed the first female solo nonstop flight across the country. She took off from Los Angeles and arrived in Newark, New Jersey, 19 hours later. In 1935, she also made history by becoming the first person to fly unaccompanied from Hawaii to the US mainland.

Amelia Earhart set out on her round-the-world journey on June 1st, 1937, from Oakland, California. She was making her second try to become the first pilot to ever complete a world tour.