Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 at her grandparents' home in Atchison, Kansas. It was not till 1908 that the girls moved to Des Moines to be with their parents, Amelia was 10 years old when she saw her first airplane at the Iowa State Fair. It would be more than a decade before Amelia's interest in aviation would be awaken. Amelia began to realize that her father was a drunkard as well as to neighbors and friends around them. In 1914 Amy and the girls left Edwin after he was fired from The Rock Island RR, and went to live with friends in Chicago. After visiting her sis