Noting Women’s History Month – Amelia Earhart

Profile America — Friday, March 18th, noting Women’s History Month. Amelia Earhart took off for the first solo crossing of the Atlantic by a woman on May 20, 1932 — five years to the day after Charles Lindbergh’s historic crossing. At the time, there were some 10,000 civil aircraft and just over 2,000 airports. And, there were less than 19,000 licensed pilots in the U.S. Now, there are close to 230,000 general aviation aircraft and nearly 20,000 airports across the nation. Flying in and out of them are about 614,000 licensed pilots — about 6 percent women. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: Chase’s Calendar of Events 2011, p. 279
Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970, p. 772
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2011, t. 1082