Photos: On this day, July 2, 1937 – Amelia Earhart disappears

Amelia Earhart, noted fier, inspected the Twin-Engined Lockheed Electra Monoplane which is being built for her use in future long distance flights at the plant, May 26, 1936, Burbank, Calif. The ship will carry 1200 gallons of gasoline and have a cruising range of more than 4500 miles. Photo shows Miss Earhart in plane looking over blueprints. (AP Photo) ( Amelia Earhart 1936 )

In a 1937 file photo aviator Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, pose in front of their twin-engine Lockheed Electra in Los Angeles prior to their historic flight in which Earhart was attempting to become first female pilot to circle the globe. (AP Photo, File) ( Searching for Earhart )

FILE - This undated file photo shows Amelia Earhart. (AP Photo/File) ( Search for Amelia )

A statue of Amelia Earhart Putnam stands in North Hollywood Park near the intersection of Tujunga Avenue and Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood, CA 10-1-2009. (John McCoy/L.A. Daily News)

FILE - In this Jan. 14, 1935 file photo, Amelia Earhart climbs out of her plane at Oakland Airport in Oakland, Calif., after completing her 18 hour, 2,400 mile flight from Honolulu. (AP Photo/File) ( Search for Amelia )

FILE - In this May 22, 1932 file photo, a crowd cheers Amelia Earhart as she boards her single-engine Lockheed Vega airplane in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, for the trip back to London. (AP Photo/File) ( Search for Amelia )

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 1936 photo provided by Purdue University, Amelia Earhart sits on top of her Lockheed Electra plane with group of Purdue coeds in front. (AP Photo/Photo provided by Purdue University via Journal & Courier) ( Search for Amelia )

FILE - This undated photo shows Amelia Earhart visting a Purdue classroom for aerodynamics students. Earhart was a lecturer at the school from fall of 1935 until her 1937 disappearance. (AP Photo/Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections, The Journal & Courier) ( Search for Amelia )

FILE - An undated file photo shows American aviatrix Amelia Earhart. A $2.2 million expedition is hoping to finally solve one of America's most enduring mysteries. What happened to famed aviator Amelia Earhart when she went missing over the South Pacific 75 years ago? (AP Photo, File) ( Searching for Earhart )

Baby picture of pilot Amelia Earhart with a dog, her toy sled, and a friend, Kansas City, MO. (Photo by Getty Images) ( 12534504amel_20010626_00449.jpg )

Photo of pilot Amelia Earhart standing by her plane. (Photo by Getty Images) ( 12534509amel_20010626_00451.jpg )

Photo of pilot Amelia Earhart standing by her plane. (Photo by Getty Images) ( 12534511amel_20010626_00459.jpg )

This is an undated photo of Amelia Earhart with husband George Putnam. (AP Photo) ( AMELIA EARHART WITH HUSBAND )

FRANCE - JANUARY 1: Undated picture taken in the 30' s of American female aviator Amelia Earhart beeing at the controls of her plane. Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly the Atlantic as a passenger, in 1928, and followed this by a solo flight in 1932. In 1935 she flew solo from Hawan to Califofrnia. In 1937, with Fred Noonan, they set out to fly round the world, but their plane was lost over the Pacific, 02 July. (STAFF/AFP/Getty Images) ( SAPA990320326370 )

This is an undated photo of Amelia Earhart. (AP Photo) ( AMELIA EARHART )

A view of the crowd surrounding Mrs. Amelia Earhart Putnam and her plane immediately after the transatlantic flier landed at the Newark, N.J. Airport to establish a new women's transcontinental flight record, July 13, 1932. Mrs. Putnam bettered the previous mark held by Miss Ruth Nichols, by almost 10 hours. (AP Photo) ( Amelia Earhart 1932 )

Amelia Earhart, the Trans-Atlantic flyer, and her Stepson, Dave Putman, photographed on the beach on July 9, 1932 at Los Angeles, California, a short time after their arrival there by plane recently from New York. Miss Earhart? husband accompanied them on the flight. (AP Photo) ( Amelia Earhart and Stepson Dave Putman Beach )

Aviator Amelia Erhart shares a moment with U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt at the National Geographic Headquarters in Washington, D.C. on March 2, 1935. (AP Photo) ( EARHART ELEANOR ROOSEVELT )

Amelia Earhart poses with her husband George P. Putnam after completing her non-stop flight from Mexico City, a 2100-mile journey in 14 hours and 20 minutes, May 8, 1935, Newark, N.J. (AP Photo) ( Amelia Earhart 1935 )

Governor Eugene Talmadge of Georgia awarded a diploma, in the name of Oglethorpe University of Atlanta, to Amelia Earhart, May 26, 1935, making her a Doctor of public service in recognition of her advancement of aviation. (AP Photo/B I Sanders) ( Eugene Talmadge and Amelia Earhart )

Amelia Earhart takes the $80,000 flying laboratory for a trial run over San Francisco Bay, Oakland, Ca., March 13, 1937, for her around-the-world flight. (AP Photo/Ernest King) ( EARHART FLYING LABORATORY )

Amelia Earhart poses in this undated photo. (AP Photo) ( Amelia Earhart )

American aviatrix Amelia Earhart, right, and her husband, publisher George Putnam, talk over plans for Earhart's second attempt to fly around the world. They are in a hangar where Earhart's plane Electra is being prepared for flight in Miami, Fla., May 29, 1937. (AP Photo) ( AMELIA EARHART GEORGE PUTNAM )

This July 4, 1937 photo shows a general view of the place of birth of American aviator Amelia Earhart, in Atchinson, Kansas. (AP Photo) ( AMELIA EARHARTS BIRTHPLACE )

Mrs. Amy Otis Earhart, outside her North Hollywood, California home, Jan. 12, 1935 told reporters she didn’t worry at all while her daughter, Amelia Earhart, was flying from Hawaii to the Oakland, California airport. She was, Mrs. Earhart explained, quite confident that her daughter’s ability would insure success. Amy Earhart was the first woman to climb Pike’s Peak in Colorado in 1890, a 14,115 foot climb. (AP Photo) ( Mrs. Amy Otis Earhart )

Miss Amelia Earhart, noted American Aviatrix, whose globe-girdling monoplane was forced down in the Pacific off Howland Island, on one of the last stages of her flight, as she received from former Mayor James J. Walker the Medal of the City of New York on July 2, 1937 as she was welcomed at the City Hall on her triumphal return from her sold flight across the Atlantic in 1932. (AP Photo) ( Miss Amelia Earhart and Mayor James J. Walker )

Aviatrix Amelia Earhart is shown in this undated photo. (AP Photo) ( Amelia Earhart )

Amelia Earhart,second from right, poses with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, second from left, in this undated photo. The rest of the group is unidentified. (AP Photo) ( Amelia Earhart )

Amelia Earhart with her Lockheed Vega surrounded by crowd after she became the first woman to fly solo from Hawaii to California in 1935. Courtesy Air and Space Museum. (AP Photo) ( Amelia Earhart Aviatrix with Lockheed Vega Crowd )

In this January 1935 photo provided by Matson Navigation Company Archives, Amelia Earhart is seen relaxing in a swimsuit at The Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii. The historic Waikiki hotel is hosting an exhibition of rarely seen photographs taken of the pioneering aviator when she visited Hawaii and stayed at the "Pink Palace of the Pacific" during the 1930s. (AP Photo/Matson Navigation Company Archives) ( Earhart Photos )

In this January 1935 photo provided by Matson Navigation Company Archives, Amelia Earhart studies maps and charts at The Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Matson Navigation Company Archives) ( Earhart Photos )

Mrs. Amelia Earhart Putnam pictured beside a likeness of herself executed by George Conlon, an American sculptor now living in Paris in an undated photo. The bust which is remarkable facsimile of the transatlantic flier was modeled almost entirely with the aid of photographs because of the inability of the flier to devote most of her time while in Paris to the sittings. (AP Photo) ( Mrs. Amelia Earhart Putnam )

FRANCE - JANUARY 1: Undated picture taken in the 30' s of American female aviator Amelia Earhart looking trough the cockpit window of her plane. Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly the Atlantic as a passenger, in 1928, and followed this by a solo flight in 1932. In 1935 she flew solo from Hawan to Califofrnia. In 1937, with Fred Noonan, they set out to fly round the world, but their plane was lost over the Pacific, 02 July. (STAFF/AFP/Getty Images) ( SAPA990320326360 )

Photographs and personal items, photographed on March 2, 2010, were part of the exhibit "Amelia Earhart: The Aviator, the Advocate, and the Icon" that ran at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. (AP Photo/Journal & Courier, John Terhune) ( Search for Amelia )