Nellie Bly Begins Her Journey Around the World
Nellie Bly, the pen name of Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, embarked on a remarkable journey around the world on November 14, 1889, inspired by Jules Verne's fictional character Phineas Fogg from "Around the World in Eighty Days." Bly completed her trip in an astonishing 72 days, six hours, and 11 minutes, defeating Fogg's record by nearly eight days. Born on May 5, 1867, in Pennsylvania, Bly was a pioneering investigative journalist and social activist known for her bold reporting, including a groundbreaking exposé on the conditions in a mental institution, which she documented in her book "Ten Days in a Madhouse."
Her journey involved a combination of steamships and trains, starting from Hoboken, New Jersey, and taking her across various countries, including stops in London, France, Italy, Egypt, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. Notably, she was greeted by Jules Verne in France, marking a connection between her real-life adventure and the inspiration for it. Upon her return to the United States, Bly received a hero's welcome, complete with celebratory cannon fire. Her experiences were later published in "Nellie Bly's Book: Around the World in 72 Days." Bly passed away on January 27, 1922, in New York, leaving a legacy as a trailblazer for women in journalism and adventure.
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Nellie Bly Begins Her Journey Around the World
Nellie Bly Begins Her Journey Around the World
On November 14, 1889, newspaper columnist Nellie Bly began her journey around the world, a voyage undertaken in imitation of the travels of Phineas Fogg in the novel Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. Bly was able to defeat Verne's fictional character by nearly eight days, encircling the world in 72 days, six hours, and 11 minutes.
“Nellie Bly” was the pen name of Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, born on May 5, 1867, in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. She grew up to become an ardent social activist and a resourceful investigative journalist, working for several papers in Pittsburgh and New York. It is thought that her interest in newspapers began when she wrote an angry reply to an article entitled “What Girls Are Good For.” Bly, who took her pen name from a character in a Stephen Foster song, was widely respected for her innovative work in controversial areas. For example, she posed as a mental patient for 10 days in what was then called an “insane asylum,” a facility located on what is now New York's Roosevelt Island. Afterward, Bly wrote Ten Days in a Madhouse (1888), a book about the conditions that she encountered there.
She is best known, however, for her trip around the world. Using a combination of methods, primarily steamships and trains, Bly was able to traverse the globe in what was considered to be an impressive speed in the days before air travel. She departed Hoboken, New Jersey, and traveled east, across the Atlantic to London, then to Boulogne, France, where she boarded a train for Amiens. To her delight, Jules Verne and his wife were waiting to greet her at the station in Amiens. Another train took Bly to Brindisi, Italy, where she boarded a steamer to Port Said, Egypt. From Egypt she sailed to Singapore, and then to Hong Kong and Japan, where a ship took her on a “tempestuous” voyage across the Pacific to San Francisco. On the final leg of her journey, a special train provided for her by The (New York) World took her across the United States to Jersey City, New Jersey, where a welcoming committee of thousands awaited her. Cannons were fired from the Battery in lower Manhattan and Fort Greene, Brooklyn, when she disembarked the train. Afterward, Bly wrote a book describing her experiences, Nellie Bly's Book: Around the World in 72 Days (1890). She died of pneumonia on January 27, 1922, in New York.