In the 1930s, Jacques Cousteau, a French engineer and filmmaker, created the first underwater film. He and his wife Simone load a black and white still camera film into a movie camera, and it is the first underwater movie to be produced. Emile Gagnan, an engineer in industrial gas control systems at L'Air Liquide et Cie designed the Aqualung. In 1943, it becomes commercially feasible to dive. The prototype units were tested by the Cousteau Family in 1943.
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a French citizen, born in Marseilles. He spent his childhood snorkeling in the warm waters around Marseilles. After graduating from highschool, he chose to join the navy. He became a naval gunnery teacher and a master diver while serving in the navy. After his time in the navy, he was fascinated by the underwater world and started to swim down to explore the seabed. He also invented an underwater camera.
Emile Gagnan
Emile Gagnan is behind many of today's innovations in SCUBA diving. Aqualung was created by Emile Gagnan in the 1950s. This breathing apparatus allows the diver to inhale underwater air. This invention made scuba diving a safer and more accessible sport for people.
Henry Fleuss
Henry Fleuss is an innovator in scubadiving history. He is known for inventing many other innovations. He worked for several companies, including Siebe, Gorman & Co., and patented his designs in 1878. It was revolutionary in that it allowed the diver work alone without the need for a pump or large crew.
Harry Houdini
When you think of scuba diving, you probably think of Harry Houdini. After all, the master escape artist performed a series of incredible escapes, including one from a box underwater! He also demonstrated how you can escape from a straitjacket or lock. His escape skills were immortalized in motion pictures.
Mark V diving helmet
Mark V diving helmet has a rich heritage in scuba diving. It was designed by the US Navy in 1916. It was then used until 1984. It is the world's first diving helmet. There are many other helmets that date back to the 1820s or earlier.
William Beebe
William Beebe’s story about scuba diving goes beyond tales of adventures in the ocean. He was a scientist who made many diving trips into the ocean to study scientific phenomena. He built a marine laboratory on Nonsuch Island in the Bermudas and studied the underwater life there. He researched the behavior of marine animals and created a unique diving helmet. Beebe was also the first person to descend into deep sea using a bathysphere. This device lowered people to depths of 3,028 feet (923 metres). This record lasted until 1949.