This Day in History

Born today 120 years ago, famed aviator Amelia Earhart is still in the news 80 years after mysteriously disappearing in 1937 during her now-infamous around the globe flight. Earlier this month two separate investigations have thrust the aviation pioneer back into the headlines once again. One claiming that Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan crashed and were rescued by the Japanese but imprisoned until their death. Another involves some cadaver-sniffing dogs on an island believed by some to be where Earhart and Noonan lived for a time after ditching their plane in the ocean.

Officially declared dead, in absentia, in 1939, the mystery surrounding Earhart’s disappearance ranks up there with other parlor game debates like the JFK assassination or the Roswell aliens. And like those, believers and doubters on both sides will back their claims with equal certitude.

Back in 1994, Diane Keaton played the public heroine in the made-for-television movie, Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight, which also starred Bruce Dern (as Earhart’s husband George Putnam) and Rutger Hauer (as Noonan). Despite the historical inaccuracies and Hollywood flights of fancy in the storyline, it’s always fun to watch Keaton on the screen and she did receive a “Best Actress” nomination for her performance from the Golden Globes, the Emmys and the Screen Actor Guild.

Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight is available now on DVD.