Charles Lindbergh was an American pilot. He flew a plane called “The Spirit of Saint Louis”. In the year 1919 a businessman from New York offered a prize to anyone who could fly from New York to Paris without stopping. In that time it was impossible to do so because planes were not strong enough to fly all that way. The prize was 25,000 dollars. It was a very big amount of money.
Charles Lindbergh decided to fly from New York to Paris and win the prize. On the 20th of May 1927, he flew his plane from New York heading for Paris. He took with him 5 sandwiches and a compass. He did not take a parachute or a map.
Everyone said he was mad. People called him the Flying Fool and his story was on the newspapers for a few weeks before he started to fly. People said he would surely die because he would get lost. Other people thought that his plane would crash in the ocean and he would certainly die.
When it was said on the radio that he was on his way to Paris, everyone kept by their radios. They wanted to listen to the news of his death or his arrival. When it was said on the radio that he was flying over Ireland, everyone cheered and people were dancing in the streets.
After more than 32 hours, he finally landed his plane in Paris. 100,000 people in France welcomed him and carried him on their shoulders. When he came back to America, the American president gave him the highest medal. His parade in New York was a very big one. Office workers tore up little pieces of paper and threw them from the windows when he was passing along the streets in a parade. 1800 tons of paper were thrown onto the streets.
Cleaners had a hard time cleaning the streets all night. Lindbergh made history. He was the first man to fly from New York to Paris non stop. He was very happy.
Many streets in America were named after him. He became very famous. Five years later, his son was kidnapped. He was only 2 years old. The person who kidnapped him sent a note asking for 50,000 dollars. Then he sent another note saying he wanted 100,000 dollars. The police in America were working day and night to save the boy. After some time, the boy's body was found. Lindbergh was a very sad man.
After much work the police arrested the killer and he was electrocuted. Lindbergh had to pay a very big price for being famous.
