Every invention has the purpose of simplifying some commonality in this world. For all underwater adventurers, the aqualung contributed to their underwater exploration. Before this period of time, people were expected to hold there breath for as long as they could, hoping not to pass out before they reached the waters surface. The aqualung was device that helped humans breathe air without being exposed to the direct atmosphere. It was technology that transformed the exploration of the deep blue.
The inventor of this amazing aquatic device was a French man by the name of Jacques-Yves Cousteau. He was born on June 11th 1910 in Saint-Andre-de-Cubzac, France, to a Daniel and Elizabeth Cousteau. As a young boy it soon became apparent that Jacques had a fascination with water, as well as, everything involved with machines. In his early teens he built both a model crane and a battery-powered vehicle. Surprisingly enough, the young Jacques wasn’t content with studying just machines and water, so he decided to purchase a camera and shoot home films. By his high school years, it was clear that Jacques was becoming bored with school as he caused trouble. His parents sent them to a stricter private school where he learned to excel. After completing his high school education, he attended Ecole Navale, a Naval Academy.
At the age of 23, Jacques acquired the title of a gunnery officer in the French Navy. It was at this point that he truly began his exploration in the area of the deep blue. He began to work on various ideas which would eventually transform into the aqualung.
By 1937, Jacques had married a woman by the name of Simone Melchior and together they had two sons. Jean-Michel was the eldest born in 1938, followed by Phillipe born in 1940. Jacques would have two more children after Simone passes 1991 from cancer with a woman by the name of Francine Triplet.
Just a few years after Simone and Jacques married he left to fight in World War II, where he was a spy among other things. During his reign he met a French engineer by the name of Emile Gagnan, who helped Jacques perfect his designs for the aqualung. In the 1940s the aquatic device was actually built and used in the field to remove enemy mines. This Aqualung was a device consisting of a pressurized driving cylinder and a regulator. It’s purpose was to supply the diver with an air supply to breathe during deep aquatic explorations.
Over the next few years, Jacques advanced up though the ranks of the French Navy. He also became the president of the French Oceanographic Campaigns.
Returning back to his childhood fantasies Jacques traveled on a ship called the Calypso and began to produce a large number of books and films as well as a TV show.Some of the films he made were: The Silent World and The World Without Sun. Because of the many tasks he took on in his life, Jacques eventually retired from the Navy and continued his aquatic pursuit. He would eventually become a member of many non-profit groups to help the ocean life and receive a Medal of Freedom.
Jacques accomplished so much in his life: he was an officer, a scientist, an inventor and an activist. In 1997, at the age of 87 he passed from a heart attack due to complications during his recovery of a respiratory illness.
Related Websites:
http://www.nndb.com/people/250/000085992/
http://www.incwell.com/Biographies/Cousteau.html
http://www.terrace.qld.edu.au/academic/lote/french/yr5cous.htm
Photos of Jacque-Yves Cousteau:
http://www.wylandfoundation.org/icon/images/icons/JaquesYvesCousteau.jpg
http://www.medaloffreedom.com/JacquesCousteau_RonaldReagan.jpg
Photos of Aqualung:
http://www.gomanzanillo.com/features/scuba-50%20years/jacques&simone.jpg
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