Interesting Facts about Amelia Earhart

Amelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean

At the age of 7, Amelia Earhart constructed her own roller coaster using fence rails and roller skates. Amelia Earhart and her younger sister Muriel often wore loose pants called bloomers, which shocked many ladies of the day. During the First World War, Amelia left college and joined her sister in Toronto, Canada, to become a nurse's aid and care for the soldiers wounded in war. After World War I Amelia Earhart returned to college and studied first automobile engine repair, then medicine and later medical research. On Dec. 28, 1920, Amelia Earhart paid a dollar for her first 10-minute airplane ride in California. Amelia Earhart began taking flying lessons in January of 1921 and later that year bought her first airplane with money borrowed from her mother, father and sister as well as earned from her job as a telephone operator. In 1924 Amelia Earhart's parents divorced and Amelia sold her plane, bought a yellow sports car and drove her mother east to Massachusetts. Amelia Earhart's mother, Amy, had become the first woman to climb to the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado, a more than 14,000-foot high climb, in 1890. After working as a nurse's aid and telephone operator, Amelia Earhart became a social worker in Boston. Her job was to teach English to immigrant children. In 1928, only one year after Charles Lindbergh's flight, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to make the flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Bill Stultz was flying the plane and Amelia was checking maps and keeping recordings. Since she didn't fly the plane herself, she later said that although it was a "grand experience," that she had felt like "baggage." Overnight Amelia Earhart became an American heroine. She wrote a book and many magazine and newspaper articles and gave lectures. Publisher George Putnam was managing her career. Amelia Earhart became a queen of merchandizing, allowing her name to be used in advertisements and put on luggage, stationary and clothing. On Feb. 7, 1931, Amelia Earhart married George Putnam. In the past Earhart had turned down a proposal from another gentleman, saying that she didn't want to be a "domestic robot." In 1932 Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean. Following her solo flight, President Herbert Hoover, who called her a "pioneer," presented Amelia Earhart with a gold medal. In 1935 Amelia Earhart became the first person to fly alone from Hawaii to California, and later that year she became the first person to fly from Los Angeles to Mexico City. On June 1, 1937 Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, began their flight around the world, covering the first leg from Florida to Puerto Rico. The flight took them to South America, Africa, India, Burma, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and New Guinea. Amelia Earhart and Noonan left New Guinea on July 2, 1937, headed for Howland Island, a tiny island in the Pacific only two miles long and one mile wide. They never arrived. Amelia Earhart disappeared in the Pacific on July 3, just 21 days before her 40th birthday. Acknowledging the dangers of attempting a flight around the world, Amelia Earhart said, "If I should pop off, it will be doing the thing I've always wanted to do."

International Kite Festival

International Kite Festival is held at Ahmedabad on January 14 every year, to coincide with the festival of Uttarayan or Makar Sankranti. Makar Sankranti is a festival that heralds a change of season marking the movement of the sun into the northern hemisphere - a celebration to mark the end of winter. The skies are blue and clear, a cool breeze blows and a feeling of anticipation, joy and jubilation grips all who celebrate the occasion.

In Gujarat, Makar Sankranti is celebrated as the kite-flying day. Kite-flying day in Gujarat is an extraordinary day, unlike at other places. Ahmedabad, Gujarat's premier city, leads the way in the celebration of Uttarayani, and is the venue of the International Kite Festival.

Kite-flying festival is being held in important cities of Gujarat each year. The festival draws expert kite-makers and flyers not only from cities of India but also from around the world. Designer's Kites of infinite variety are displayed at the venue. International Kite Festival

THE BELIEF :

The festival is a time of thanksgiving for the religious, since it marks the awakening of the gods from their long slumber. The gods who are believed to have slumbered for six long months are now awake and the portals of heaven are thrown open. It is also a signal for merry-making.

               The temples are thronged with visitors and alms are distributed freely.

KITES OF ALL HUES :

From dawn to dusk, people of all ages fly kites rejoicing in the spirit of the day. The blue January sky is enlivened by kites of different colours and hues. Kites soar in the sky, their lines moving as if alive. Crowded rooftops, fun-loving rivalry to outdo each other, and delicious Gujarati feast are the hall-marks of the day.

A tremendous variety of kites are seen with friends, neighbors and total strangers indulging in kite fights. The nights see the arrival of the illuminated box kites, often in a series strung on one line, to be launched into the sky. Known as Tukkals, these kites add a touch of splendor to the dark sky.

THE EXPERT TOUCH :

The festival draws expert kite-makers and flyers not only from cities of India but also from around the world. Special mixtures of glue and ground glass cover the lines with which the kites are flown. Experts specially prepare these lines before the great day. They are dried and rolled onto reels known as 'firkees'. Unless used carefully the strings are sharp enough to cut a finger.

HISTORY OF KITE FLYING :

In fact, kite flying has a fascinating history; man had the desire to fly since time immemorial. It was the spirit of man and his imagination that ultimately saw the invention of kites. Their fascinating history is depicted in the Kite Museum of Ahmedabad.

200 BC : Huein Tsang flew a kite at night to overawe the army of Liu Pang of Han dynasty in china.

100 BC to 500 AD : Kites were used by the army generals to send signals and to measure the distance of enemy camps.

930 AD : The earliest mention of "Shiroshi" in Japanese literature where 'Shi' means paper and 'Roshi' stands for the Chinese bird.

960 to 1126 AD : Flying kites became a popular activity of recreation in China. People celebrated the 9th day of the ninth month, a day signifying the banishment of evil, by flying kites.

1542 AD : For the first time the word ' Patang' finds mention in Indian literature. It was used by Manzan in 'Madhumalti', where the flight of a kite is associated with the loved one by a poet.

1752 AD : Benjamin Franklin lofted a kite to prove that lightning was of the same electric matter as the one that generated electricity.

Wooden sticks were affixed to four corners of a square silk handkerchief and a projecting metal wire with sharp edge was attached to it. When an electrified cloud passed over the kite, lightning was drawn down through the pointed wire.

1870 AD : Australian inventor Lawrence Hargrave designed box-kites whose stability inspired others to create power driven aeroplanes.

1896 AD : Alexander Graham Bell designed ' tetra' by combining lightweight sticks. He flew 'Frost King" kite of 256 cells and improvised it to have 1300, and later 3393 cells.

At this time, Samuel Cody carried out experiments with man carrying diplane gliders.

1902 AD : Cody's contemporary, the Wright brothers, were successful in becoming airborne, age of aviation begins.