On June 15, 1921, Bessie Coleman received the first pilot’s license issued to an African American woman and to a Native American woman. The license was issued by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the aviation licensing body of Europe.

The “flying debutante” Ruth Nichols set off in her attempt to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. Nichols flew an Akita from Brooklyn to Nova Scotia, where she made a crash landing after misjudging the length of the runway.

After two unsuccessful attempts the year before, Fred and Algene Key took off in a Curtiss Robin J-1 Deluxe from Meridian, Mississippi on June 4 and did not touch the ground again until July 1, for a total time in the air of 653 hours and 34 minutes, or 27 days, a new world record.

16 April 1912: American aviatrix Harriet Quimby flew across the English Channel in a Blériot XI monoplane. She departed Dover at 5:30 a.m. and crossed a fog-shrouded channel to land at Hardelot-Plage, Pas-de-Calais, 1 hour, 9 minutes later. Her only instruments were a hand-held compass and a watch.