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The 1920s was the decade of the celebrity. America was in love with the likes of Charlie Chaplin, George Gershwin, Al Jolson, Rudolph Valentino… to name but a few. But no one captured the imagination of the country quite like Charles Lindbergh.
Lindbergh's historic non-stop crossing of the Atlantic aboard the Spirit of St. Louis instantaneously transformed him into a national hero. The flight, which began at 7:52 AM on May 20, 1927 at Long Island's Roosevelt Field, ended 331/2 hours and 3,610 miles later at LeBourget Field, in Paris. The crowd of 40,000 Parisians that greeted Lindbergh's arrival was dwarfed by the crowd that honored him in New York City at the ticker-tape parade down 5th Avenue in his honor.
Lindbergh would spend the following years writing about the flight and traveling across America speaking to enormous crowds about the glorious future of flight.
Lindbergh's later years were marked by controversy and tragedy. In 1932, Lindbergh's infant son was kidnapped and murdered. The alleged kidnapper, Bruno Hauptman, was convicted and executed for the crime.
Lindbergh's popularity took a severe hit in the years leading up to World War II. He was vocal in his opposition to America's entry into World War II and was seen by many to be both a Nazi sympathizer and an anti-Semite.
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