(1902–74). Popularly called “Lucky Lindy,” Charles Lindbergh was one of the most famous people in the history of aviation, or flying. He was the first person in the world to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean without stopping. This flight was made at a time when long-distance air travel was still at an experimental stage.
Early life
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born on February 4, 1902, in Detroit, Michigan. In 1906 Charles's father was elected to the U.S. Congress. Young Charles divided his time between Washington, D.C., and his family home in Minnesota. He fished, hunted, and developed a special interest in machinery.
Charles graduated from Little Falls High School in 1918. In 1920 he entered the University of Wisconsin. After three semesters he left college and enrolled in an aviation school in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Career
Lindbergh made his first solo flight at Americus, Georgia, in April 1923. For a time he earned his living by stunt flying. In March 1924 Lindbergh became a flying cadet in the U.S. Army Air Service Reserve. In 1926 a firm in St. Louis, Missouri, hired him as a test pilot. This firm had a contract to fly mail between St. Louis and Chicago. He flew more than 50,000 miles (80,460 kilometers) for the firm.
A few years earlier a hotel owner, Raymond B. Orteig, had offered a prize of 25,000 dollars for the person who made the first nonstop flight between New York City and Paris. It was thought to be a nearly impossible task at that time. With his experience flying for the St. Louis firm behind him, Lindbergh decided to make the attempt.
He had a plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, built for him in California. Lindbergh made the transatlantic flight in 33 hours and 30 minutes on May 20–21, 1927, and became a world hero overnight. Later, Lindbergh donated the Spirit of St. Louis to the Smithsonian Institution.
Lindbergh married Anne Morrow in May 1929. A major tragedy occurred in the Lindberghs' life when their son, who was born in 1930, was kidnapped and killed in 1932. The Lindberghs moved to Europe in 1935.
Lindbergh received a medal from the Nazi German government in 1938. His acceptance of this decoration led to much disapproval from the U.S. public. Lindbergh publicly opposed U.S. intervention in World War II in 1940–41. In April 1941 he resigned his Air Corps Reserve commission after President Franklin D. Roosevelt criticized his public statements.
When the United States entered the war, however, Lindbergh, as a civilian, threw himself into the war effort. He flew 50 combat missions during a tour of duty in the Pacific.