Today I learned something new, something that (while reading the Wiki page) made me excited about the achievements this person had in her life.  This was shortly followed by an emptiness in my gut as to why wasn't Bessie talked about in my school when I was growing up . . .  I know of another famous female aviator who was talked about . . .  but why not Bessie?

Today I honor Bessie Coleman:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Coleman

Quote from: pauldo on January 26, 2017, 10:36:52 AMI know of another famous female aviator who was talked about . . .  but why not Bessie?

I assume, alas, that your question was rhetorical..........

Peter (who, as an historian, gets angered about this stuff regularly)

Yes rhetorical. Thankful for Google's little "daily ads" or I would have never known about Bessie.

Interesting reading - Sounds like a pretty horrific way to go

Graeme

Pauldo you never heard of Bessie probably for the same reason you may have never heard of Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, who in 1893 performed the first documented successful open heart surgery.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/medicine/medicine-biographies/daniel-hale-williams
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/09/daniel-hale-williams-perf_n_1659949.html

Isn't it great that we're all learning new stuff every day, but yeah, this should be far more known...thankfully I now know it.