Aviatrix Amelia Earhart (1898 - 1937) in Newfoundland. Noted for her flights across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Earhart disappeared without trace in her attempt to fly around the world. (Agency reference - 2669306)

EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN: Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart was an aviation pioneer and female icon. Born to a privileged family in Kansas in the United States, Amelia grew up a tomboy. It was no surprise that when her father, Edwin took her to an air show, Amelia was hooked. She took numerous part time jobs, and borrowed money from her mother’s inheritance, in order to pay for flying lessons and buy her first plane. But Charles Lindberg’s record-breaking flight across the Atlantic awakened in Amelia, a daring need for adventure on a massive scale. Distributed by BBC Worldwide

Aviatrix Amelia Earhart (1898 - 1937) in Newfoundland. Noted for her flights across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Earhart disappeared without trace in her attempt to fly around the world. (Agency reference - 2669306) (Courtesy of Topical Press Agency/Getty Images (1928))

Amelia Earhart stands June 14, 1928 in front of her bi-plane called Friendship in Newfoundland. (Agency reference - 1161352) (Courtesy of Getty Images (1928))

American aviator Amelia Earhart (1897 – 1837) poses for a portrait some time shortly before her non-stop flight from Newfoundland to Wales with pilot Wilmer Stultz. (Agency reference - 56963938) (Courtesy of FPG/Getty Images)

Amelia Earhart and her husband George Putnam, walking on the tarmac of the airport in Oakland, California, circa 1930s. (Agency reference - 42-17473372) (Courtesy of © Smithsonian Institution/ Corbis)

Pioneering female pilot Amelia Earhart in cockpit of plane. (Agency reference - 50659691) (Courtesy of Time Life Pictures/Mansell/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images (1932))

On June 10, 1932, American aviator Amelia Earhart (1898 - 1937) and her husband, publisher, George Palmer Putnam, laugh and looking out a window while traveling by train in Cherbourg, France. (Agency reference - 3228367) (Courtesy of Hulton Archive/Getty Images (1932))

Studio headshot portrait of American aviator Amelia Earhart (1898 - 1937), the first woman to complete a solo transatlantic flight, wearing a leather jacket. (Agency reference - 3225169) (Courtesy of Hulton Archive/Getty Images (1932))

Eugene Vidal, Director of Air Commerce for the United States government, flashes a great big smile as Amelia Earhart congratulates him on his happy landing in the "captive parachute" jumpers' training device. Amelia Earhart preceded Vidal in testing out the device, designed to train parachute jumpers for civilian and military aviation. A high steel tower is used for take off, and guide wires keep the chute from drifting out of bounds. (Agency reference – BE052395) (Courtesy of © Bettman/ Corbis (1935))

American aviatrix Amelia Earhart (1897 - 1937) with her navigator, Captain Fred Noonan, in the hangar at Parnamerim airfield, Natal, Brazil, June11, 1937. Together they are attempting a circumnavigation of the globe. (Agency reference - 3308131) (Courtesy of Topical Press Agency/Getty Images (1937))

Front page of the Daily News dated July 3, 1937, headline: EARHART PLANE LOST AT SEA, subhead: Amelia Earhart Missing on World Flight. (Agency reference - 97301265) (Courtesy of NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images (1937))