This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/17/2022
[AVIATION]. – [PICCARD, Jeannette (1895-1981)]. Harmon Trophy medal awarded to Jeannette Piccard. 1934. Copper medal designed in the Art Deco style depicting a man standing atop a mountain holding an airplane aloft with an eagle at his side; on the observe is an inscription which reads, “The International League of Aviators elects Jeannette Piccard as its world champion spherical balloon pilot for the year 1934.” Housed in a black presentation case. Case, 89 x 102 x 25 mm; medal diam. 76 mm. Some rubbing to case. Jeannette Piccard was a balloonist who on 23 October 1934 broke the women’s altitude record when she piloted her balloon, Century of Progress, eleven miles into the stratosphere, at the time earning her the title of “the first woman in space” and making her the first pilot to fly through a layer of clouds. The flight lasted eight hours and took Jeannette and her husband, Jean, from Dearborn, Michigan to Cadiz, Ohio.