In 1889, New York reporter Nellie Bly, inspired by Jules Verne's book Around the World in 80 Days, began an around-the-world journey that she hoped to complete in less time. Her trip was sponsored by her employer, the newspaper The World. Just hours after her ship set out across the Atlantic, the publisher of The Cosmopolitan magazine put writer Elizabeth Bisland on a westbound train. Bisland was headed around the world in the opposite direction,...