death_date children birth_place other_names nationality ethnicity name parents birth_date known_for spouse image article_title birth_name
26 may 1962 oren root jr. , alva de acosta root elberon , new jersey mrs. oren root sr. ; mrs. henry breckinridge u.s. cuban-spanish american aida de acosta ricardo de alba de acosta , micaela hernández de alba y july 28 , 1884 first of first u.s. eye institute founder/director of first u.s. eye woman bank to fly a powered aircraft solo founder oren root sr. , henry breckinridge mrsorenroot.png aida de acosta
 aida de acosta
aida de acosta

aida de acosta root breckinridge -lrb- july 28 , 1884 -- may 26 , 1962 -rrb- was an american socialite and the first woman to fly a powered aircraft solo .
in 1903 , while in paris with her mother , she caught her first glimpse of dirigibles .
she then proceeded to take only three flight lessons , before taking the sky by herself .
later in life , after losing sight in one eye to glaucoma , she became an advocate for improved eye care and was founder and director of the first eye bank in america .
