My Nomination for the most Overrated Event of the 20th Century

In 1927, Charles Lindberg was the first person to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean. Everybody knows his name, his nickname, the name of his plane; his face is one of the most identifiable even by members of the current generation. His accomplishment is always mentioned as one of the greatest feats of the 20th century. I’ve never quite understood the hype surrounding all of this. Why do we know so much about Lindberg and not the other guys who came before and after him. Who knows the name of the first person to fly solo across the Pacific; or across the U.S.; or when the first the first non-stop flight was made across the Atlantic? I don’t get it. I can see why it may have made such an impression at the time since he was competing for a prize and the press sold papers by puffing up the event. I can’t grasp why he remained an icon for so many years afterwards and remains a genuine American hero of long-standing importance, surviving even his pre-WWII appeasement speeches and writings. He seems a good example of someone whose adulation is sustained by sheer inertia.