Celebrating Amelia Earhart with the National Geographic Society

By Anne Marie Houppert

Amelia Earhart is in the news again amidst reports that wreckage originally discovered two decades ago does, indeed, belong to her missing plane. Rather than focus on the mystery of her disappearance, we’d like to celebrate this discovery by paying homage to the aviator’s many accomplishments.

For instance, did you know Amelia has a connection to the National Geographic Society? Not only was she awarded the Special Gold Medal by the Society, but she also authored a May 1935 National Geographic magazine article, “My Flight From Hawaii.” The article recounts her preparation for a solo flight from Honolulu to San Francisco, starting with the voyage from Los Angeles to Hawaii with her Lockheed secured on the aft tennis court of the ship Lurline—photos included! On January 11th, 1935, the weather conditions were deemed favorable enough and she took off:

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Partner Interview: Anne Marie Houppert of the National Geographic Society

What makes working for National Geographic a fulfilling experience and why should you be excited to add National Geographic Virtual Library to your collection? Find out straight from the source. In a continuation of our interview with the Geographic, we had the pleasure of interviewing Anne Marie Houppert.

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Did You Know: Time to hit the slopes!

Did you know?

Did you know…the earliest known snow skiers were from 8000 B.C. in the Altay region of China? However there is some dispute on this as others have said skiing started in Scandinavia. Read all about the history of skiing in National Geographic Virtual Library’s “The World’s First Skiers.” Check it out or call your rep for more information.

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Partner Interview: Barbara Ferry of the National Geographic Society

What makes working for National Geographic a fulfilling experience and why should you be excited to add National Geographic Virtual Library to your collection? Find out straight from the source. Recently, we had the pleasure of interviewing Barbara Ferry, the Director of the Library & Archives at National Geographic Society. Check out this quick bio to learn more about her professional accomplishments–and, then, it’s on to the interview!

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The International Language of Ice Cream

By Anne Marie Houppert

Who likes ice cream?

According to over 100 years of National Geographic magazines, it seems everyone does!

The first reference in National Geographic magazine occurred in a February 1911 article on the building of the Panama Canal, which describes the Herculean task of provisioning an army of workers: “…plants were established and turn out each day about 90 tons of ice, 14,000 loaves of bread, 2,400 rolls, 250 gallons of ice cream, 1,000 pounds of roasted coffee, and 7,500 pieces of laundry.”

Photos taken of ice cream stands in the early 20th century include places as varied as Italy, Constantinople, and Rio de Janeiro.

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