A look at the life of the man who made the first non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic.
Charles Lindbergh was born on February 2, 1904 in Detroit Michigan, but grew up in Little Falls Minnesota. His mother, Evangeline, was a chemistry teacher; his father, Charles Sr., was a lawyer and US Congressman for Minnesota from 1907-1917.
Early Interest In Aviation
After spending time on the family farm, Lindbergh enrolled in Engineering at the University of Wisconsin in 1920. After a couple of years, he left college, moved to Nebraska, and joined an aviation school in Lincoln. While in flight school, he purchased a World War I surplus Curtiss JN-4 Jenny and became a barnstormer at fairs and aviation shows across the Midwest.
In 1924, Lindbergh enlisted in the Army, and attended the Army Air Service flight school in San Antonio. After graduating at the top of his class in 1925, he flew an airmail route between St. Louis and Chicago.
The Historic Flight
While in St. Louis, Lindbergh learned of the existence of the Orteig Prize; a $25,000 prize for the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris. New York hotel owner Raymond Orteig first offered the prize in 1919, but as of 1927, no one had yet been able to make the flight.
Lindbergh helped design the Spirit of St. Louis, the plane he would use to make the historic flight. For his test run, Lindbergh flew the plane from San Diego, where it was built, to New York, with a stop in St. Louis. The transcontinental test flight took 20 hours and 21 minutes.
Ten days later, Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt field near New York City and landing in Paris 33 ½ hours and 3600 miles later, becoming the first person to make a solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic.
Family Life
Lindbergh married Anne Morrow in May of 1929. Almost three years later, on March 1, 1932, their 20 month old son, Charles III, was kidnapped. Two months later, young Charles’ body was found buried in a field less than 4 miles from their home. It was two years before an arrest was made in the case. Bruno Richard Hauptmann was tried and convicted of kidnapping and murder in 1934.
Following the trial, Lindbergh moved his young family to Europe for safety and privacy. They stayed there until 1939, when they returned to the United States.
World War II
Lindbergh joined the war effort following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. He was a test pilot and advisor for Ford Motor Company and United Aircraft (now United Technologies). He also flew in numerous combat missions in the South Pacific. President Eisenhower appointed him to Brigadier General in the Air Force Reserve in 1954.
A Pulitzer Prize
Lindbergh wrote a total of seven books during his life. Probably the most well-known of these books was The Spirit of St. Louis, an account of his historic trans-Atlantic flight. Published in 1953, the book won the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1954.
Death Of A Hero
Charles Lindbergh died of cancer at his home on the island of Maui, Hawaii on August 26, 1974. He is buried on the grounds of Maui’s Palapala Ho’omau Church.
