Monday, April 16, 2007
This Day in the History of Overshadowed Achievements
On this day in 1912, American aviatrix Harriet Quimby became the first female to pilot an airplane across the English Channel. She left England in a 50-hp monoplane lent to her by Louis Blériot. She headed for France in a plane she had never flown before and a compass she had just learned how to use. Despite poor visibility and fog, Quimby landed 59 minutes later near Hardelot, France, where she was greeted by the local residents. However, the Titanic sinking just days earlier, limited reporting of Quimby's achievement in the world press. She died the same year, on 1 Jul 1912, when she lost control of her plane at a flying exhibition near Quincy, Mass. She was the first American woman to become a licensed pilot, but her career as a pilot lasted a mere 11 months.
(h/t Today in Science History).
(h/t Today in Science History).
Labels: aviatrix achievement
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 12:14 AM 
