Superhero Historians

Apologies and the Future

2008-07-14T15:00:00Z

If you are a devoted reader of Superhero Historians, first of all I want to thank you, and second I want to apologize for the sparse posting for the last few months. We have been going through a lot of personal changes. We are also going to change Superhero Historians, for the better. We should be back online, in full gear, soon. We appreciate your patience.

Best,

Jason and all the Superhero Historians.

Bangkok

2008-06-30T17:12:00Z

Amelia Earhart was now on her way to Bangkok. Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and has over 11 million residents. Bangkok is a very tourist friendly city with a lot of things to do for all people. The full name of Bangkok is very long, Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit. Try saing that to the airline ticket agent! It means “The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukam”.

Monsoon in Rangoon

2008-06-24T18:01:00Z

Amelia Earhart flew into the worst weather of her trip on the flight to Rangoon. She had to avoid monsoons. What is a monsoon? Let’s find out.

A monsoon is a seasonal wind that changes direction with the seasons. It blows from the Southwest from April to October. Then it switches and blows from the Northeast from October to April. How wild is that? Heavy rains come with the summer monsoons. Earhart had to fly very high to avoid the monsoon.

Sittwe

2008-06-11T17:29:00Z

Earhart’s next stop was Sittwe. Sittwe is in Myanmar. It sits on the Bay of Bengal. If you ever visit Sittwe you can get around on a trishaw. Take a look at the picture below! Pretty cool. You can also rent bicycles at most hotels. There are also hundreds of fruit bats that fly over the city when the sun starts going down. The food in Sittwe is spicy! Now, I like most spicy food, but it tends to fire up my belly. So I make sure I have plenty of cool drinks around too.

Calcutta

2008-06-09T18:03:00Z

On June 17, 1937, Amelia Earhart flew through heavy rains and sloshed down in the city of Calcutta. The flight from Karachi spanned 1300 miles. Let’s learn a bit about Calcutta.

First thing, Calcutta is now Kolkata. The name just changed in 2001 and now spells the same way it should sound in the local language. The city has a population of 4.6 million while there are about 14 million people in the entire area. People have been living in Kolkata for thousands of years. However, when the British East India Company came in 1690, historical record began. Does that company sound familiar? It should. Click here. Kolkata was named the capital of British India in 1772. Kolkata sits on the banks of the River Hooghly and most of the city was a wetland. Kolkata is an enormous city with a lot to do. There are many places to shop and eat, places to learn, beautiful gardens, and sports to watch.

Distinguished Flying Cross

2008-06-02T06:41:01Z

In 1932 Amelia Earhart became the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross. It is America’s oldest military aviation award. The first Distinguished Flying Cross was given to Charles Lindbergh on June 11, 1927. It is fitting that Earhart, known as “Lady Lindy,” later received the award. Earhart was not a member of the military when she got her award. President Coolidge stopped the practice of giving the Distinguished Flying Cross to civilians when he signed an Executive Order in 1927.

Karachi

2008-05-30T19:48:00Z

Amelia Earhart was now halfway around the world! She had landed in Karachi. From Assab she had flown 1920 miles to Karachi. While in Karachi she rode a camel. I guess she got tired of being in a plane and wanted a change!

If you think about population, Karachi is the second largest city in the world. New York City is number 12 on that list. Over 12 million people live in Karachi. Wow! It is the largest city in Pakistan. There is a lot to do in Karachi. There has to be with that many people. Cricket is the big sport in Karachi. Cricket is a little like baseball. There is also a lot of art and history in the city. Now, on to the good stuff: food. Karachi is loaded with places to eat. There are trendy places, upscale places, not so upscale places… everything.

Assab

2008-05-28T19:49:00Z

Earhart next flew down the coast of the Red Sea to Assab. Assab was not planned as a stop originally. It turned out to be a better spot to start the long flight to Karachi. Today, Assab is a major port on the Red Sea. Its population is around 40,000 people.

Massawa

2008-05-22T15:55:01Z

Earhart was now close to leaving Africa. After spending only a short time in Khartoum, she made a short flight to Massawa. The trip was a challenging. Earhart flew over high mountains and had to come down quick for her landing.

Massawa is next to the Red Sea. It is known as one of the hottest places in the world. It is a city that is no stranger to war. It went from the Ottoman Empire, to Italy, to Great Britain, to Ethiopia with Eritrea fighting for independence. The population is around 40,000. Fish is a great dish in Massawa, since it is located next to the Red Sea. More than 1,100 species of fish have been found in the Red Sea. HMMMM.

Khartoum

2008-05-20T15:36:00Z

Earhart’s next stop was Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. The flight there was 500 miles with Earhart’s plane flying over mostly empty land. Earhart didn’t spend much time in Khartoum.

Khartoum is located where the White Nile meets the Blue Nile. “Khartoum” translates to “trunk of the elephant” and is a good name because the land between the two Niles does look like an elephant trunk. There are over two million people living in the Khartoum area. While Khartoum is an economically poor city, there is a lot of development going on. It is also Sudan’s center for education.

Al-Fashir, Sudan

2008-05-14T21:01:00Z

Earhart’s next stop was Al-Fashir in Sudan. You might be thinking, “Why does she have to stop so many times?” Remember that Earhart was flying in a small plane. Air travel has changed tremendously since Earhart made her trip. Follow this link to a hand drawn map to a house in Al-Fashir.

Al-Fashir is the capital city in North Darfur. It is a big agricultural marketplace for cereals and fruit. The town grew around the palace of the sultan. The palace of the sultan is still in Al-Fashir, but is now a museum.

Did Amelia Earhart Survive?

2008-05-02T22:00:01Z

One of the crazier theories is that Amelia Earhart survived her flight and returned to society under a different identity. Joe Klass published a book in 1970 stating that Amelia Earhart lived and changed her name to Irene Craigmile Bolam. Bolam filed a lawsuit and the book was taken off bookshelves. This theory has been rejected and there have even been people who knew both Earhart and Bolam. Interestingly enough, Bolam did have her pilot’s license.

Halfway through Africa

2008-04-28T20:53:00Z

About halfway through her flight in Africa, Amelia Earhart stopped in the town of D’Jamena. D’Jamena is the capital of Chad. It is a port town, but on the river and not the ocean. In the late 1930’s the population was under 10,000 people. Today the population stands at over a half million people. War comes to D’Jamena pretty often. Most recently it was invaded by rebels on February 2, 2008.

Amelia in Africa

2008-04-14T14:05:00Z

Reaching Africa was a big part of Amelia Earhart’s trip. On June 9, 1937 Earhart flew the short distance from St. Louis to Dakar. That city may sound familiar to some car racing fans out there. The Dakar Rally is a desert car race that usually ends in Dakar. It used to go from Paris, France to Dakar. Well, Amelia Earhart used a plane and pretty much started in Dakar. Her route was Dakar, Gao, N’Djamena, Fasher, Khartoum, Massawa, and finally Assab. Let’s take a short look at those cities.

Dakar is the capital of Senegal and the Westernmost African city. There are about 2 and a half million people living around Dakar. Dakar used to be a major city in the French colonies. Due to its location near the Atlantic, Dakar is a major port and used to be the exit point for slaves from Africa. France built what was called The House of Slaves in 1776. It now stands as a museum. Dakar is now a big city for finance.

Leaving Dakar, Earhart needed to change her course due to weather. She chose the town of Gao as her next stop. They left just before 6 a.m. on June 10 and flew for 7 hours and 50 minutes to reach Gao. Gao is a small city located on the Niger River.

Spying for FDR

2008-04-11T18:22:00Z

Listen up! When unexplainable things occur, many people get hair-brained ideas. You can call these ideas “conspiracy theories” if you want. After Amelia Earhart disappeared, the theories came out. One theory was that she was spying on the Japanese for President Roosevelt. These rumors were taken seriously enough that the U.S. Army Intelligence stated they weren’t true by 1949. Also, a friend of Earhart, Jackie Cochran, actually went through postwar Japanese files. She found nothing about Amelia Earhart’s disappearance.