April 16, 1912: Aviatrix crosses English Channel

On August 1, 1911, 36-year-old Harriet Quimby became the first American woman to receive a pilot’s license. It was the latest in a long string of achievements that put her ahead of her time.

After growing up in Michigan, Miss Quimby struck out west to California, where she became a top journalist. In 1902, she moved to New York City, where over the next decade she would write about the new ground being broken in transportation: a trip in a 100-mph car, the marvel of flight.

The latter looked “quite easy,” she told friends, and she backed it up. A month after receiving her license, she became the first woman to fly at night, seven minutes over Staten Island in front of 15,000 spectators. Then, on April 16, 1912, she flew from Dover, England toward Calais, France; she ended up 25 miles from her intended destination, landing on a beach, but she made it nonetheless.

Unfortunately, her accomplishment was largely overshadowed by the sinking of the Titanic.

Just a few months later, on July 1, 1912, Miss Quimby and a passenger were both ejected from their seats during an air show in Squantum, Massachusetts. No one has figured out what, exactly, happened.

Although she flew for less than a year, Miss Quimby had reshaped the role of females in aviation. In 1927, a new airport opened in Squantum with an employee named Amelia Earhart.

More at the National Aviation Hall of Fame.