Nellie Bly was 22 years old and already known as a daring reporter for Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World when, in 1889, Pulitzer sent her on a journey that would bring her international fame. Bly set out to surpass the globe-trotting record of Phileas Fogg, the fictional hero of the Jules Verne novel Around the World in 80 Days. Traveling by such means as ship, train, handcart and burro, Bly completed her journey in 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes. The adventure captivated the public imagination, and Bly was greeted with fanfare and fireworks along the final leg from San Francisco to New York.

Only four years before, a teenager named Elizabeth Cochrane had written a letter to the Pittsburgh Dispatch in support of women’s rights. Impressed with her writing skills, the editor hired her. The budding journalist took the pseudonym “Nellie Bly” from a Stephen Foster song, reported on the exploitation of women and children in factories, and began her quick ascension to world celebrity.

Upon joining the World in 1887, Bly gained immediate acclaim for her sensational exposes. That year, she faked insanity to have herself committed to an asylum, and instigated reform with her account of cruelty toward mental patients there. The pioneering reporter also purposely was arrested as a thief in order to observe firsthand the treatment of women prisoners.

PostScript: Bly still was writing, for the New York Journal, at the time of her death in 1922. In her last major piece, Bly covered an execution at Sing Sing, and rallied an outcry against capital punishment.