Charles Lindbergh facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Charles Lindbergh
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![]() Photo by Harris & Ewing
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Born |
Charles Augustus Lindbergh
February 4, 1902 |
Died | August 26, 1974 Kipahulu, Maui, Hawaii, U.S.
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(aged 72)
Resting place | Palapala Ho'omau Church, Kipahulu, Maui, Hawaii |
Nationality | ![]() |
Other names |
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Education | Sidwell Friends School Redondo Union High School Little Falls High School University of Wisconsin–Madison (did not graduate) |
Occupation | Aviator, author, inventor, explorer, activist |
Known for | First solo transatlantic flight (1927) |
Home town | Little Falls, Minnesota |
Spouse(s) | Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1929–1974) (his death) |
Children | With Anne Morrow Lindbergh: Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. Jon Lindbergh Land Morrow Lindbergh Anne Spencer Lindbergh (Perrin) Scott Lindbergh Reeve Lindbergh (Brown) With Brigitte Hesshaimer: Dyrk Hesshaimer Astrid Hesshaimer Bouteuil David Hesshaimer With Marietta Hesshaimer: Vago Hesshaimer Christoph Hesshaimer. With Valeska (surname unknown): a son (name unknown) a daughter (name unknown) |
Parent(s) | Charles August Lindbergh Evangeline Lodge Land Lindbergh |
Military career | |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service/ |
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Years of service | 1925–1941, 1954–1974 |
Rank | ![]() |
Awards | Medal of Honor (1927) Distinguished Flying Cross (1927) Congressional Gold Medal (1928) |
Signature | ![]() |
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974), known as "Lucky Lindy" and "The Lone Eagle", was a pioneering United States airplane pilot. He became famous for making the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927.
Early life
Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan. His parents were Swedish immigrants. He grew up in Little Falls, Minnesota. His father, Charles August Lindbergh, was a lawyer and later a U.S. congressman, who was against the United States entering into World War I. His mother was a teacher. While he was young, he was interested in machines. In 1922 he joined a pilot training program with Nebraska Aircraft, bought his own airplane, and became a stunt pilot. In 1924, he started training as a pilot with the United States Army Air Corps.
After finishing first in his class, Lindbergh took his first job as pilot of an airmail route in St. Louis. He flew the mail in an airplane.
In April 1923, while visiting friends in Lake Village, Arkansas, Lindbergh made his first ever flight over Lake Village and Lake Chicot.
First solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean
Lindbergh gained fame around the world as the first pilot to fly solo (alone) and non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean. He flew from Roosevelt Airfield (Nassau County, Long Island), New York, USA to Paris, France on May 20-21, 1927 in his single-engine airplane The Spirit of St. Louis. He needed 33.5 hours for the trip. When he arrived back in the United States, many warships and aircraft escorted him to Washington, D.C. where President Calvin Coolidge gave him the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Lindbergh's act won him the Orteig Prize, which was 25,000 US dollars. A parade was held for him on 5th Avenue in New York City on June 13, 1927.[1] At the end of the year, he was named Time's first Man of the Year.
He served on a variety of national and international boards and committees, including the central committee of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in the United States.
Later life
Lindbergh married Anne Morrow in 1929. He died of lymphoma on August 26, 1974 in Hawaii.
Legacy
Lindbergh is honored in aviation for mapping out polar air-routes, flying at high altitudes, and decreasing fuel use.
Lindbergh's legacy is, in part, his unique solo flight which changed public opinion about the value and significance of aircraft and air travel. In greater part, his legacy developed from what he did with his status and fame. He used his celebrity to advance aviation across the world.
A developing Lindbergh legacy is in life sciences.
Images for kids
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The Spirit of St. Louis on display at the National Air and Space Museum
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Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh
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Lindbergh's grave in Kipahulu, Maui, Hawaii. The epitaph "If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea" is from Psalm 139:9.
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President Calvin Coolidge presents Lindbergh with a Hubbard Medal, 1928
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The Congressional Gold Medal presented August 15, 1930, to Lindbergh by President Herbert Hoover
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Lindbergh's Medal of Honor