Women Explorers

Today is the first day of Women’s History Month. Let’s take a look at some women explorers and adventurers that changed world history, for the better.

Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart was an American aviator who set many flying records and championed the advancement of women in aviation. She became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and the first person ever to fly solo from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland. During a flight to circumnavigate the globe, Earhart disappeared somewhere over the Pacific in July 1937. Her plane wreckage was never found, and she was officially declared lost at sea. Her disappearance remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries.

Bessie Coleman

Bessie Coleman was an early American civil aviator. She was the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot license

Junko Tabei 

Junko Tabei was a Japanese mountaineer, author, and teacher. She was the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest and the first woman to ascend the Seven Summits, climbing the highest peak on every continent.

Valentina Tereshkova

Valentina Tereshkova, a Soviet cosmonaut, is known for being the first and youngest woman in space, having flown a solo mission on the Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. She orbited the Earth 48 times, spent almost three days in space, and remains the only woman to have been on a solo space mission.

Ann Bancroft 

Ann Bancroft is an American author, teacher, adventurer, and public speaker. She was the first woman to successfully finish a number of arduous expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Famein 1995.

For a more thorough list of famous women explorers and travelers please see here: List of female explorers and travelers.