First Woman to Earn Aviator Certificate

Date: August 1, 1911 • Location: Washington, United States

Harriet Quimby became the first woman to earn an Aero Club of America aviator certificate.

Harriet Quimby was an American pioneering aviator, journalist, and film screenwriter. In 1911, she became the first woman in the United States to receive a pilot's license and in 1912 the first woman to fly solo across the English Channel. Although Quimby flew for only one year and died at the age of 37 in a flying accident, she strongly influenced the role of women in aviation.