# Bessie Coleman got her pilot's license 94 years ago today.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bessie-coleman-got-her-pilots-license-94-years-ago-today/722606>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [June 15, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bessie-coleman-got-her-pilots-license-94-years-ago-today/722606 "2015-06-15T20:34:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bessie-coleman-got-her-pilots-license-94-years-ago-today/722606/1 "2015-06-15T20:34:37Z")

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[Bessie Coleman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Coleman) couldn’t earn a pilot’s license the U.S because she was A) Black; and B) female. So she learned to speak French, went to Paris, and on 15 June, 1921, received her pilot’s license.

> [@](#):
>
> Coleman became not only the first woman of African-American descent to earn an international aviation license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, and the first American of any gender or ethnicity to do so, but the first woman of African-American descent to earn an aviation pilot’s license.

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**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bessie-coleman-got-her-pilots-license-94-years-ago-today/722606/2 "2015-06-16T15:26:46Z")

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One of my all-time Heros!