Amelia Mary Earhart
(July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead
January 5, 1939)

Aviation trailblazer Amelia Earhart became the first woman to
fly solo across the U.S. nonstop on this day in history, Aug. 24,
1932.

Earhart piloted her Lockheed Vega 5B from Los Angeles to
Newark in 19 hours and 5 minutes.  She set an official U.S
record for women’s distance and time.

Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Vega 5B in the National Air
and Space Museum.

A special edition of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone"
will hit the auction market in September after surviving — what
could have been — a disastrous fire. 

The book is one of 15 published to mark the 15th anniversary
of Harry Potter. Author J.K. Rowling signed it and dedicated it. 

The owner (Carina Haouchine) of a special edition Harry
Potter book is putting it up for auction after it was nearly
lost in a fire. 

Joanne (J.K.) Rowling

On August 24, 1981, Mark David Chapman (above) was sentenced
to 20 years to life for the murder of John Lennon, a founding
member of The Beatles, one of the most successful bands in the
history of popular music.    

On December 8, 1980, Chapman shot and killed the 40-year-old
singer, songwriter and peace activist, outside Lennon’s New
York City apartment building, the Dakota, where he lived with
his wife Yoko Ono and their young son Sean.

John Lennon (left) and Chapman minutes before the shooting.