On this day in 1902, Charles Lindbergh was born. He grew up on a farm in Minnesota and was very interested in mechanical objects. After graduating from high school, Lindbergh spent two years at the University of Wisconsin. He left college to attend flight school and in 1924 he joined the army where he became the best pilot in his class.

On May 21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first solo, non-stop flight from New York to Paris in his plane, “The Spirit of St. Louis.” He continued to fly all over the world, becoming an unofficial ambassador of  “good will.”

In 1932, three years after marrying Anne Spencer Morrow, the Lindberghs’ 20 month-old son was kidnapped and later found dead. After a two-year investigation, Bruno Hauptmann was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to death in what was dubbed “The Crime of the Century.” Because of the media attention and security reasons the Lindberghs moved to England.

By 1939, Lindbergh returned to the United States and took up permanent residence in Hawaii. He died of cancer on August 26, 1974.