Blanche Scott in a biplane sometime between 1910 and 1915 (Library of Congress photo)

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): The first female public flight in America took place on this date in 1910, and it happened in Fort Wayne.

Blanche Scott was also an automobile enthusiast who become the second woman in US history to to drive across the United States. She drove the Lady Overland from New York to San Francisco and, as the New York Times pointed out, demonstrated that, as a female, she could make necessary repairs along the way. 

But it was on October 23rd, 1910 when, shortly after becoming a professional pilot, she hopped aboard a Curtiss exhibition plane and sailed over a Fort Wayne park, reaching an altitude of 12 feet and becoming the first woman to make a public flight in America. She later went on to become a stunt pilot.