Sixth Grade
Worksheets
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Reading Comprehension for February 4
Do you have some interests that might lead to fame and fortune someday? Charles Lindbergh loved mechanical things and flying. He eventually helped design a plane that allowed him to make the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight from New York to Paris. Lindbergh was the first person in history to be in New York one day and Paris the next. To fly alone on such a trip meant that he needed to stay awake for more than thirty-three hours!
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born on February 4, 1902, at his grandparents' home in Detroit, Michigan. While he was still a small boy, the family moved to Little Falls, Minnesota. There, his father practiced law before serving in Congress for ten years in Washington, D.C.
Lindbergh grew up on the family farm in Minnesota on the banks of the Mississippi River. It was there he began to demonstrate his strong interest in mechanical things. He became very interested in airplanes. At the age of 18, Lindbergh enrolled in the University of Wisconsin to study engineering. It wasn't long before flight became his chief interest, and he dropped out of school. He took flying lessons and purchased a small World War I surplus airplane. Then he spent the next two years barnstorming as a daredevil stunt pilot at fairs across the country.
By the time Lindbergh was 22 years old, he already had a lot of flight experience, but he wanted more. He enlisted in the U.S. Army to train as an Army Air Service Reserve pilot. He finished first in his class. Two years later in 1926, Lindbergh became the first air mail pilot for the Chicago to St. Louis, Missouri, run.
Seven years earlier, the Orteig Prize of $25,000 was offered for the first non-stop transatlantic flight from New York to Paris, France. Many people had tried to win it but failed. Lindbergh was sure he could help design a plane that would allow him to win. He convinced nine businessmen in St. Louis to back him. The result of their efforts was the plane called Spirit of St. Louis.
