Who was known as a pioneer in aviation and disappeared over the mid-Pacific in 1937?

Amelia Earhart was known as a pioneer in aviation and disappeared over the mid-Pacific in 1937.

Born in Kansas in 1897, Earhart became one of the most celebrated aviators of the early 20th century. In 1928, she was the first woman to cross the Atlantic by airplane as a passenger; in 1932, she became the first woman to fly solo and nonstop across the Atlantic. She also helped establish the Ninety-Nines, an international organization for women pilots.

On July 2, 1937, Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared while flying a Lockheed Electra near Howland Island during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe. The aircraft was operating over the central Pacific after departing Lae, New Guinea. A major search found no confirmed trace of the pair or their plane, and Earhart was later declared legally dead.

A common mix-up is to describe Earhart simply as the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. She was the first woman to fly solo and nonstop across it; her 1928 crossing was as a passenger. The exact circumstances of her disappearance remain unresolved, which has fueled decades of theories.