Charles A. Lindbergh

Biography

Early Life

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Charles Augustus Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born on February 4, 1902, in Detroit Michigan, according to the Lindbergh Association’s website, in an article titled “Charles A. Lindbergh – Biography.” His father, Charles August Lindbergh was a lawyer from Little Falls Minnesota and his mother, Evangeline Lodge Land, was a teacher from Detroit (“Charles A. Lindbergh – Biography”). He grew up mainly on his family’s farm near Little Falls (“Charles A. Lindbergh – Biography”).

According to CharlesLindbergh.com, at age18, he attended the University of Wisconsin, with the intention to study engineering. Being more interested in aviation than academics, he left after two years (CharlesLindbergh.com). In 1922, he enrolled in a flying school in Lincoln, Nebraska (“Charles A. Lindbergh – Biography”).  In 1923, he made his first solo flight in a war surplus Jenny trainer he had purchased previously (“Charles A. Lindbergh – Biography”). As stated by Biography.com, in the article titled “Charles Lindbergh Biography,” he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1924, where he trained to be an Army Air Service Reserve pilot. He then went on to fly back and forth between Chicago and St. Louis as an airmail pilot (“Charles Lindbergh Biography”).


An International Hero

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh was the first pilot to fly non-stop from New York to Paris (CharlesLindbergh.com). To read more about this famous flight, click here.

After his groundbreaking flight, Lindbergh became and international hero (“Charles A. Lindbergh – Biography”). After receiving many awards, he toured the country, promoting aviation (“Charles Lindbergh Biography”). He also became a goodwill ambassador to several Latin American countries (“Charles A. Lindbergh – Biography”). During this time he met Anne Spencer Morrow, who was the daughter of the American ambassador to Mexico (“Charles A. Lindbergh – Biography”). They were married in 1929 (“Charles A. Lindbergh – Biography”). Lindbergh taught his wife to fly allowing her to become the first American woman to earn a glider pilot’s license and to later earn her pilot’s license (“Charles A. Lindbergh – Biography”).

Footage of the 1927 transatlantic flight

Life Before World War Two

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Lindbergh and his wife
In 1932, the Lindbergh’s first child, Charles Jr., was kidnapped (“Charles A. Lindbergh – Biography”). To learn more about the kidnapping and the controversy associated with it, click here.

After moving to Europe to escape the publicity caused by the tragic kidnapping, Lindbergh and the French surgeon, Dr. Alexis Carrel continued to work on a project with which they had started previously, an “artificial heart,” which they perfected in 1935 (“Charles A. Lindbergh – Biography”).  This pump allowed organs to be kept alive outside the body by providing the needed blood and air (“Charles A. Lindbergh – Biography).

While in Europe, Lindbergh toured German aviation facilities (“Charles Lindbergh Biography”). In 1938 he was awarded a German medal of honor, and upon accepting it was accused by some of being sympathetic towards the Nazis (CharlesLindbergh.com).  You can read more about this controversy here

Life After World War Two

After World War Two, Lindbergh worked as a consultant to the chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, and in 1954 President Eisenhower appointed him to be a brigadier general (CharlesLindbergh.com). He also worked as a consultant for Pan American World Airways and later helped design the Boeing 747 jet (CharlesLindbergh.com).

Later in his life, Lindbergh began to lobby for environmental preservation (“Charles Lindbergh Biography”). In the 1960s he “began working to help primitive Philippine and African tribes, campaigned to protect endangered species like humpback and blue whales, and supported the establishment of a national park” (“Charles A. Lindbergh – Biography”).

On August 26, 1974 Lindbergh died of cancer in his Maui, Hawaii home (CharlesLindberg.com).

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Lindbergh's grave