Inspired by Jules Verne's wildly popular 1873 novel, Around the World in 80 Days, Bly proposed to her editors at the New York World that she undertake the same trip to try and break the fictional record. Traveling by steamer, train, rickshaw and any number of other conveyances, she did -- by eight days.

She left Hoboken, New Jersey, on the German liner Augusta Victoria and returned to New York on Jan. 25, 1890. Bly received a tumultuous welcome, including a parade, and became a national figure. Her account of the journey, Around the World in 72 Days, sold exceptionally well.