- Raymonde de Laroche was the first woman in the world to receive a pilot's license.
- Amelia Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
- Matice Wright was the first African American woman to be a flight officer in the US Navy.
- Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.
Throughout history, groundbreaking female pilots have shattered the glass ceiling by taking to the skies.
Here are 13 women who broke aviation records (and in some cases, the sound barrier) in their careers as pilots.
Raymonde de Laroche was the first woman in the world to receive a pilot's license.
Raymonde de Laroche was a French baroness who learned to fly from Charles Voisin, a pioneering figure in aviation who built planes in the early 1900s. She received her pilot's license in 1910 and was the first woman in the world to do so. She went on to set the record for the highest altitude flown by a woman in 1919.
Harriet Quimby was the first American woman to get a pilot's license and the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
Harriet Quimby was a journalist who became interested in flying after writing about a Japanese aeronaut and covering New York's Belmont Air Meet. She earned her pilot's license in 1911 after convincing the magazine she worked for to pay for her flying lessons so that she could write about the experience. She flew across the English Channel in 1912, the first woman to do so, earning the nickname "America's First Lady of the Air."
Bessie Coleman was the first African American woman to earn a pilot's license.
Known as "Brave Bessie" and "Queen Bess," Bessie Coleman received her pilot's license in 1921 in France because no American flight schools would accept her. She was famous for performing stunts such as figure eights and loop-the-loops in flight.
Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes was the first stunt pilot in Hollywood.
Florence Barnes' grandfather Thaddeus Lowe is also known as the grandfather of the US Air Force for using balloons to spy on Confederate forces during the Civil War. Barnes inherited his aptitude for aviation, participating in the Women's Air Derby in 1929 and working as the first female stunt pilot for the film "Hell's Angels."
Amelia Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
Amelia Earhart worked at a military hospital during World War I, sparking her interest in aviation. She took her first plane ride in 1920, and flew across the Atlantic as a passenger in 1928.
She became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic as a pilot in 1932. In her effort to become the first woman to fly around the world, she mysteriously vanished in 1937.
Jacqueline Cochran was the first American woman to break the sound barrier.
Jacqueline Cochran got her pilot's license in 1932 while working as a beautician and cosmetics salesperson. She was the first woman to compete in the Bendix Transcontinental Air Race in 1935 and came in third place. She went on to win the race in 1938.
Cochran was appointed director of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II and was the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic Ocean. She was also the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound in 1953, piloting an F-86.
Geraldine "Jerrie" Mock was the first woman to fly around the world.
Geraldine "Jerrie" Mock became the first woman to fly solo around the world in 1964, earning the nickname "the flying housewife" and an FAA Award from President Lyndon B. Johnson. Before that, she had been one of the first women to study aeronautical engineering at Ohio State University.
Emily Howell-Warner became the first female pilot hired by a major airline in 1976.
Emily Howell-Warner learned to fly at Clinton Aviation Company, then became the school's manager and chief pilot. Her male students went on to get hired at commercial airlines, but none would accept female pilots. In 1973, she finally became the first female pilot at a major US airline when Frontier Airlines hired her. She became the first female captain three years later.
Beverley Bass was American Airlines' first female pilot and led the first all-female crew on a commercial flight in 1986.
Beverley Bass became American Airlines' first female captain in 1986 and led the first all-female flight crew on a commercial flight in American history.
On September 11, 2001, Bass' plane was diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, along with 37 other flights when the FAA closed US airspace. In the Broadway musical "Come From Away" about the small town of Gander taking in thousands of stranded passengers, Bass is portrayed by actress Jenn Colella. The song "Me and the Sky" chronicles Bass' career as a groundbreaking female pilot.
Jeannie Leavitt became the first female fighter pilot in the US Air Force in 1993.
Jeannie Leavitt earned a master's degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University before she joined the Air Force in 1992. She became the first female fighter pilot in the US Air Force in 1993 and the first female fighter wing commander in 2012.
Actress Brie Larson met with Leavitt in preparation for her role as Air Force fighter pilot Captain Carol Danvers in "Captain Marvel."
Matice Wright was the first African American woman to be a flight officer in the US Navy.
Matice Wright was the Navy's first African American female naval flight officer in 1989. After eight years of service, she became a White House Fellow in the Treasury Department and earned an MBA from Johns Hopkins. President Obama appointed her to the United States Naval Academy Board of Visitors in 2016.
Jennifer Murray was the first woman to fly solo around the world in a helicopter.
In 1997, Jennifer Murray flew around the world in a helicopter in 97 days, becoming the first woman to achieve the feat. She did it again (flying solo) in 2000, and became the first woman to fly a helicopter to the South Pole in 2003.
Anny Divya became the youngest woman in the world to pilot a Boeing 777 plane in 2017.
Anny Divya completed her pilot training at Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi when she was 19 years old. In 2017, she became the youngest woman to pilot a Boeing 777 plane at age 30.
- Read more:
- The most famous women in NASA history
- The most powerful woman the year you were born
- 12 surprising women from history who paved the road to equal pay
- THEN AND NOW: How women's roles have changed in the US military