On this day in 1953, Jacques Cousteau published his book "The Silent World," which told of life under the sea. A movie version was filmed in 1955.

Who Was Jacques Cousteau, Anyway? French oceanographer and underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau was world-famous for his deep-sea explorations and the books and videos he made about them. He was born in 1910 and died in 1997.

The Young Jacques Cousteau. Cousteau always loved the water and in his early teens, he became interested in machines. Because he was fascinated with films, he saved his money and bought a home movie camera. And the rest is history.

Notable Quotable: When you dive, you begin to feel that you're an angel. It's a liberation of your weight.

A List Of Achievements.

• While in the French navy, he and engineer Emil Gagnan invented the aqualung, or scuba.
  
• Cousteau attracted world attention when he salvaged the hull of an ancient Greek wine freighter, buried deep in fossil mud 130 feet below the surface off the French coast near Marseilles.
  
• In 1950, a millionaire gave Cousteau money to buy the 400-ton former mine-sweeper Calypso. He converted it into a floating laboratory, outfitting it with the most modern equipment, including underwater television gear.
  
• In 1952-53 Cousteau took the Calypso to the Red Sea and shot the first color footage ever taken at a depth of 150 feet.
  
• Cousteau helped start the first manned undersea colonies.
  

A Trip Beneath the Ocean Waves... Cousteau is best known for his documentaries and books. "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau", a series of over 70 documentaries produced in the 70's and 80's and narrated by Cousteau, is still running today.