Charles Lindbergh made a stop in Boise (Idaho) on September 4, 1927, as part of his sweeping cross-country tour. Already a household name, the actor and adventurer had cemented his legacy by completing the first solo, nonstop flight across the Atlantic, departing from New York and touching down in Paris.
A true Renaissance figure in the world of international commercial aviation, Charles Lindbergh wore many hats — aviator, author, military officer, inventor, and activist. Remarkably, by the age of 25, he had already pulled off the first nonstop transatlantic flight, accomplishing the feat on May 20-21, 1927.
That epic Mid-Air exploration, clocking in at 33 Hours, catapulted him to instant celebrity status when he landed to throngs of eagerly waiting fans in Paris. Yet for all the adoration, Lindbergh carried a darker reputation — he was an outspoken racist whose anti-Semitic views earned him widespread notoriety.
Quick Facts:
It was during his demonstration flights that Lindbergh crossed paths with Anne Morrow, the ambassador's youngest daughter. They tied the knot in 1929 and went on to have three children.
While married, Lindbergh carried on lengthy affairs with three different women and fathered a handful of children with them.
Tragedy struck on March 1, 1932, when Charles Lindbergh Jnr., the young son of Charles and Anne, was kidnapped from their rural home. A man claiming responsibility for the abduction collected a $50,000 ransom, part of it paid in gold certificates. Heartbreakingly, the child's remains were discovered in the woods near the Lindbergh home on May 12. The devastating case became widely known as the Crime of the Century.
The Spirit of St. Louis was a custom single-engine, single seat aircraft, constructed by Ryan Airlines in San Diego. Today, it can be seen on display at the Smithsonian Institute's National Air and Space Museum.
Covering an impressive 9,500 miles, the Goodwill tour stretched from Washington to Mexico, British Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, the US Virgin Islands, and more, launching on December 13.