10 Interesting Nellie Bly Facts

Nellie Bly Facts present the interesting information about the American journalist Elizabeth Jane Cochrane.  Nellie Bly is only her pen name. She lived on 5 May 1864. She died on 27 January 1922. Here are facts about Nellie Bly for you:

Nellie Bly Facts 1: the ground breaking reporter

Nellie Bly is called as the ground breaking reporter. She broke the record of having a trip around the world in 72 days. She was also famous as a charity worker and industrialist. Find out another writer in Natalie Babbitt facts here.

Nellie Bly Facts 2: the full name

Nellie Bly was born with the full name Elizabeth Jane Cochran. Her birthplace is “Cochran Mills”. Now it is a part Pittsburgh suburb of Burrell Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.

Nellie Bly Around The World

Nellie Bly Facts 3: Michael Cochran

Michael Cochran is her father. He was a mill worker and a modest laborer. Michael married to Mary Jane. The father was a thoughtful person. He always encouraged the children to be a hard working person. Therefore, he bought a local mill.

Nellie Bly Facts 4: Pinky

Pinky was the nickname of Nellie Bly had when she was a young girl. She got the nickname due to the frequent pink color that she often wore in the childhood. When he was in the teen age, she decided to drop off the pinky name. She wanted to be sophisticated. She adopted Cochrane as her last name.

Nellie Bly Facts

Nellie Bly Facts 5: boarding school

Nellie only went to a boarding school in one term. She had to get out of the school due to the lack of financial condition.

Nellie Bly Facts 6: Lonely Orphan Girl

Lonely Orphan Girl was her pseudonym when she wrote a paper to the editor of Pittsburgh Dispatch. Her writing attracted George Madden the editor because of her passion. To identify the Lonely Orphan Girl, the editor ran an ad to search for the identity of the writer.

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Nellie Bly Facts 7: The Girl Puzzle

The Girl Puzzle was her first article in Dispatch. It made George Madden impressed with her writing skill once again. So she was offered with a full time job in Dispatch.

Nellie Bly Facts 8: a pen name

Since she was a female writer, she needed a pen name. The editor selected a name Nellie Bly as Elizabeth’s name.  It was taken from the character of popular song, Nelly Bly by Stephen Foster. The spelling is not Nelly, but the editor wrote it Nellie by mistake. The spelling of Nellie was a result of editor’s error.

Nellie Bly Pictures

Nellie Bly Facts 9: a baby boy

Nellie got a baby boy from a mother in 1916. She was asked by the mother to look after the boy. He was an illegitimate son. The baby boy was a half Japanese so that it was not easy for him to get a place.

Nellie Bly Facts 10: Beatrice Brown

Beatrice Brown was the niece of Nellie. When Nellie felt so ill, she asked her to take care the baby boy and other babies that she looked after.

Nellie Bly

At the age of 57 years old, Nellie passed away New York City in 1922 due to pneumonia. What do you think on facts about Nellie Bly?