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.

George W. Bush is shown climbing the steps to his Texas National Guard fighter plane. He was inducted into the
Texas Aviation Hall of Fame in 2017.

On July 6, 1946, George Walker Bush—the son of 41st U.S.
President George Herbert Walker Bush—was born in New
Haven, Connecticut. He went on to become the 43rd U.S.
president.

On this day in history, July 3, 1962, Tom Cruise — who would
go on to become one of Hollywood’s most iconic leading men
— was born.

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV was born in Syracuse, New York,
and his acting career emerged in the 1980s. 

American pilot Charles A. Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget
Field in Paris, successfully completing the first solo, nonstop
transatlantic flight and the first ever nonstop flight between
New York to Paris.

His single-engine monoplane, The Spirit of St. Louis, had
lifted off from Roosevelt Field in New York 33 1/2 hours
before.

Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III is 73 years old today. 

Sully is a retired Air Force fighter pilot, diplomat, and airline
pilot best known for his heroism as captain of US Airways
Flight 1549 that he ditched in the Hudson River in 2009 after
both engines were disabled by a bird strike. All those aboard
the aircraft survived the ordeal.

Passengers stand on the wings of a US Airways Flight 1549
after it landed in the Hudson River, New York, January 15,
2009.