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Man of The Ocean
Jacques Cousteau had a deep devotion to the ocean for many years.
Being able to
widen a field of study for many others after him, Cousteau along with
help from friends, invented the amazing SCUBA device. Born in St.
Andre-deCubzac, France on June 11, 1910, Cousteau had a comfortable
childhood. At an early age he became facinated with machinery and even
bilt a battery-operated car before he turned 14. Upon the entrance into
high-school however, Cousteau became slightly troublsome and unruly. Yet
since his parents came from a financially stable background, Jacques was
sent to a strict private school to straighten him out. Cousteau excelled
in this environment and was able to graduate with ease. After high-school,
Cousteau went on to the "Ecole Navale", or Naval School. Jacques then
continued at the academy and became an officer. During World War II,
Cousteau became concerned with the inabilities in the oceanographic
fields. Always experimenting with new techniques, Cousteau was into
underwater photography. Yet the system of underwater breathing was not
perfected and Cousteau set out to free divers from the air tube that
connected them to the surface. In 1943, this was made possible by
Cousteau along with the help from Emile Gagnan. With the Self
Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus,
divers were able to explore their environment without the hasssle of
buldgy and heavy suits. Scuba was primarily used to remove underwater
bombs after WWII, but Cousteau had dreams. Eventually divers were able to
stay submerged for up to several hours. Cousteau had a famous television
series as well as movies and documentaries that were a "first of their
kind". Cousteau bettered the oceanographic studies and will always be
remembered despite the fact that he died on June 25, 1997 at the age of
87.