Amelia Earhart Google Doodle Takes Flight

By PCMag Staff

July 24, 2012

Google today paid tribute to pioneering female pilot Amelia Earhart with a doodle honoring her 115th birthday.

In the homepage doodle, Earhart is seen next to a plane, with the Google logo written on the underside of the aircraft's wings.

"We heart Earhart. Happy 115th birthday, Amelia!" Google tweeted today.

Earhart is best known as the first woman and second person - after Charles Lindbergh - to fly solo across the Atlantic. She took off from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland on a course for Paris on May 20, 1932, and while treachorous conditions forced her to land in Ireland, she completed the trip, according to her official website.

By 1937, Earhart was ready for an even bigger feat - to become the first woman to fly around the globe. A failed attempt in March did not deter her enthusiasm, and she tried again on June 1. Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan left Miami that day for the 29,000-mile journey. By June 29, the duo landed in New Guinea, and prepared for the next leg of the trip. It was difficult, however, because they were looking for a small strip of land in the Pacific known as Howland Island.

Unfortunately, they never found it. Earhart could not hear radio transmissions from U.S. ships set up as ground markers, and after 8:45 a.m. local time, nothing further was heard from Earhart or Noonan. A $4 million rescue effort that covered 250,000 square miles of ocean turned up nothing.

Since then, a variety of theories have surfaced about her whereabouts, but nothing was ever recovered. She was declared legally dead in 1939. She is known, however, for her pioneering spirit and contributions to aviation.

For more on Google's doodles, meanwhile, see the below. Recently, the company has honored and , considered by many to be a pioneer in the electronic music space, as well as , zipper pioneer , and , a British archaeologist best known for uncovering the tomb of King Tutankhamen in Egypt.