Nellie Bly (1867-1922)

Elizabeth Cochrane, who wrote under the name Nellie Bly, was an American investigative journalist known for traveling around the world. She raced fellow journalist Elizabeth Bisland to complete a circumnavigation of the globe after being inspired by Jules Verne’s classic book Around the World in 80 Days. Bly made the trip in 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes and 14 seconds, beating both her contemporary rival, Bisland, and Verne’s fictional character, Phileas Fogg. Bly was also well known for her work as an undercover journalist. For example, in order to expose abuses inside an insane asylum, Bly pretended to be an inmate. After several weeks of firsthand observation, she wrote about her experiences for the newspaper, The New York World. This stunt earned her a readership that loyally followed her work, including her travel writing.

Nellie Bly’s trip around the world took just 72 days. She traveled through England, Egypt, Singapore and Japan as well as many others during her record-setting performance.