Lindbergh, wearing helmet with goggles up, in open cockpit of airplane at Lambert Field, St. Louis, Missouri. Circa 1923-28. Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 - August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, author, inventor, and social activist. He gained world fame for his solo non-stop flight on May 20-21, 1927, from Roosevelt Field, Long Island to Le Bourget Field in Paris, nearly 3,600 statute miles, in the single-seat, single-engine purpose built Ryan monoplane Spirit of St. Louis. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his historic exploit. Lindbergh used his fame to promote the development of commercial aviation and Air Mail services in the US and the Americas. In 1932, his son, Charles, Jr., was kidnapped and murdered in what was dubbed the "Crime of the Century". The Lindbergh family went into voluntary exile in Europe in 1935 and did not return to the US until 1939. In his later years, he became a prolific prize-winning author, international explorer, inventor, and environmentalist. Lindbergh spent his final years on Maui, where he died of lymphoma in 1974 at age 72.