1. Harriet Quimby was an American pioneering aviator, journalist, and film screenwriter.
29 Facts About Harriet Quimby
1. 2.
Harriet Quimby was born on May 11,1875 in Michigan.
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Harriet Quimby's father had purchased a farm in Arcadia Township in 1874, where the family was recorded as residing there in the 1880 United States Census.
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Ultimately concluding that acting was not for her, Harriet Quimby chose to pursue a career in journalism.
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In 1902, Harriet Quimby began writing for the San Francisco Dramatic Review as well as contributing to the Sunday editions of the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Call.
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Harriet Quimby published more than 250 articles over a nine-year period.
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Harriet Quimby became interested in aviation in 1910 when she attended the International Aviation Meet at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.
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Harriet Quimby learned to fly at the Moisant Aviation School, where Alfred Moisant, John Moisant's brother, was her flight instructor.
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Harriet Quimby completed the requirements after 33 flight lessons and two test flights.
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Harriet Quimby joined the Moisant International Aviators, an exhibition team, and made her professional debut in 1911, earning $1,500 in a night flight over Staten Island before a crowd of almost 20,000 spectators.
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Harriet Quimby drew crowds whenever she competed in cross-country meets and races.
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Harriet Quimby continued her work as a writer for Leslie's while touring with airshows.
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Harriet Quimby documented her flying experiences in a series of articles, serving as the publication's aviation editor.
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In 1911 Harriet Quimby wrote seven screenplays or scenarios that were developed as silent film shorts by Biograph Studios.
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Harriet Quimby appeared in adverts in her distinctive purple aviator uniform.
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Harriet Quimby was the first woman to pilot an aircraft across the English Channel.
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Harriet Quimby's accomplishment received little media attention as it occurred the day after the sinking of the Titanic ocean liner.
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On July 1,1912, Harriet Quimby flew in the Third Annual Boston Aviation Meet at Squantum, Massachusetts.
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Harriet Quimby flew out to Boston Light in Boston Harbor at about 3,000 feet, then returned and circled the airfield.
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The airplane flipped over and Harriet Quimby was ejected; both fell to their deaths, while the plane "glided down and lodged itself in the mud".
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Harriet Quimby died at age 37 and was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York.
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Harriet Quimby became the first licensed female pilot in America on August 1,1911.
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Harriet Quimby pointed the direction for future women pilots including her friend, Matilde Moisant, buried at the Portal of the Folded Wings.
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Harriet Quimby is memorialized in two official Michigan historical markers.
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The other was erected near the now abandoned family farmhouse in Arcadia Township where Harriet Quimby lived from 1875 to about 1888.
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In 2004 Harriet Quimby was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
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In 2012 Harriet Quimby was inducted into the Long Island Air and Space Hall of Fame.
28.
Since Harriet Quimby's plane that she flew in 1912 was a brand new two-seater, the idea that the former was the aircraft that she was flying at the time of her death seems to be an urban legend.
29.
Harriet Quimby has been portrayed on screen on a few occasions.