Amelia Earhart disappeared July 2, 1937, on the last leg of a trans-world flight. Two years after their disappearance, Earhart and her navigator were declared dead. For all this time her fate has remained a mystery. Every few years someone claims to have found Amelia or her plane, but definitive proof has never been provided.
In 1938, a lighthouse on Howland Island was named for the aviatrix. This was the place where she was supposed to refuel before ending her travels after leaving Lae, New Guinea, however even though her radio transmission was heard by those on the island, she and her navigator Fred Noonan never arrived. The message heard was: "We must be on you but cannot see you — but gas is running low — have been unable to reach you by radio — we are flying at 1,000 feet."