50 Fun Facts About Jacques Cousteau

What breathing apparatus did Jacques Cousteau co-invent, making modern scuba diving possible?

It was the first successful open-circuit self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.

Cousteau was an officer in which armed service before he became a full-time oceanographer?

He graduated from the Ecole navale as a gunnery officer in 1930 and left the Navy in 1949.

With which engineer did Cousteau develop his breathing apparatus in the winter of 1942-43?

Gagnan's demand regulator was the key improvement; the prototypes were made by Air Liquide.

What accident ended Cousteau's planned career as a naval pilot?

Forced to change plans, he 'indulged his passion for the ocean' instead.

Which friend lent Cousteau his first pair of underwater goggles in 1936?

They were Fernez goggles, predecessors of modern swimming goggles; Cousteau was serving on the Condorcet in Toulon.

Cousteau's first wife Simone Melchior was also his what?

They married in 1937 and had two sons, Jean-Michel and Philippe, who both joined the ship's adventures.

What was the first French underwater film, made by Cousteau and friends in 1942 without breathing apparatus?

It shared first prize at the 1943 Congress of Documentary Film with mountaineer Marcel Ichac.

Cousteau's brother Pierre-Antoine was sentenced to death in 1946 for what?

The sentence for editing Je suis partout was commuted to life, and he was released in 1954.

Cousteau's apparatus improved on a 1926 breathing set by which French naval commander?

Cousteau found the Le Prieur set gave too little time underwater, so he added Gagnan's demand regulator.

What was the GERS, which Cousteau and Tailliez were asked to set up in Toulon in 1946?

Its first fatality came in 1947 when Maurice Fargues died attempting a 120-metre depth record on an Aqua-Lung.

The 1948 exploration of a Roman wreck at Mahdia, Tunisia, was the first of what kind?

It opened the way for scientific underwater archaeology.

Whose bathyscaphe did Cousteau's ship help rescue off Dakar in 1949?

The FNRS-2's sphere was reused to build the FNRS-3.

Who leased the Calypso to Cousteau for one franc a year, on condition that his identity stay secret?

The British millionaire also insisted Cousteau never ask him for money; his name emerged only after Cousteau's death.

What was the Calypso before Cousteau converted her into a research vessel?

Built in Seattle of Oregon pine, she then briefly served as a Maltese ferry.

What ability of porpoises did Cousteau correctly surmise in his first book, The Silent World?

He noticed porpoises following his ship knew the optimal course through the Strait of Gibraltar better than the crew did.

With which French director did Cousteau co-direct the 1956 film The Silent World?

Malle had earlier filmed Cousteau's 1954 survey of Abu Dhabi waters for British Petroleum.

Which top prize did The Silent World win at Cannes in 1956?

No other documentary won it until Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004; the film also took the Oscar for Best Documentary.

How much film did Cousteau's team shoot for The Silent World over two years?

Only 2.5 kilometres made the finished documentary.

Which institution did Cousteau take over as director in 1957?

The museum was later blamed for introducing the 'killer algae' Caulerpa taxifolia to the Mediterranean.

To what depth could Cousteau's SP-350 'diving saucer' descend?

Two follow-up vehicles reached 500 metres in 1965; the saucer was nicknamed Denise.

What did Cousteau's 1960 publicity campaign stop from being dumped in the Mediterranean?

Women and children sat on the railway tracks and the train carrying the waste was sent back.

What were Cousteau's Conshelf I, II and III projects of the 1960s?

He used the names Precontinent and Continental Shelf Station interchangeably.

What was Cousteau's trademark headgear on television?

It was inherited from standard diving dress and meant to give the films a 'personalized adventure' style.

For how many years did The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau run on American television?

A second series, The Cousteau Odyssey, followed on public television from 1977 to 1982.

Which shark did Cousteau call 'the most dangerous of all sharks' in his 1970 book with son Philippe?

The book was titled The Shark: Splendid Savage of the Sea.

Which singer's 1975 tribute song 'Calypso' reached No. 2 on the charts?

He gave all the royalties to the Cousteau Society.

Which sunken Olympic-class liner, sister of the Titanic, did Cousteau locate in 1976?

She had struck a mine in the Kea Channel in November 1916.

How did Cousteau's son and designated successor Philippe die in 1979?

His PBY Catalina crashed in the Tagus River; the elder son Jean-Michel then joined the Society for 14 years.

Which US president awarded Cousteau the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985?

The same year his film Cousteau/Mississippi won a Primetime Emmy.

To which prestigious French body was Cousteau elected in 1988?

He took chair 17, succeeding Jean Delay; Erik Orsenna followed him.

Which electronic musician titled his 1990 album Waiting for Cousteau in homage to the commander?

Jarre also scored Cousteau's documentary Palawan, the last refuge.

Cousteau married Francine Triplet in 1991; how many children did they already have together?

Diane and Pierre-Yves were born during his marriage to Simone, who had died six months earlier.

Cousteau went to court in 1995 to stop his son Jean-Michel from doing what?

The court ordered Jean-Michel not to confuse his business with his father's non-profit work.

What happened to the Calypso in the port of Singapore in January 1996?

She was refloated and towed home to France, where restoration has dragged on for decades.

Cousteau died in Paris in June 1997 of what?

He was buried in the family vault at Saint-Andre-de-Cubzac, his birthplace.

Roughly how many television documentaries did Cousteau leave behind?

Plus more than 50 books and a foundation with 300,000 members.

What did Cousteau like to call himself, despite being a sophisticated showman?

His plain way of sharing science was criticised by academics but became a model for television.

Which invasive seaweed has Cousteau's Monaco museum been accused of introducing to the Mediterranean?

It has damaged the Mediterranean ecosystem.

Which Wes Anderson film features an oceanographer strongly inspired by Cousteau?

Zissou's ship is called Belafonte, an oblique nod to Cousteau's ship via the calypso singer Harry Belafonte.

Which Star Trek actor named the captain's yacht of the Enterprise-D 'Calypso' in tribute?

He named the Enterprise-E's yacht Cousteau as well.

Cousteau's grandson Fabien announced which underwater habitat project off Curaçao in 2020?

The planned stations would sit at about 20 metres in a marine-protected area.

Who faced Cousteau in an Epic Rap Battle of History episode?

Peter Shukoff played Cousteau and Lloyd Ahlquist the Crocodile Hunter.

Cousteau was involved in creating and first led which world body for underwater sports and science?

He was its inaugural president from 1959 to 1973.

Which spacecraft did astronaut Sunita Williams name Calypso after Cousteau's ship?

It was the third Starliner built for the Commercial Crew Program.

In which Gironde town was Jacques Cousteau born in June 1910?

He is buried in the family vault there, and the street to his birthplace is now rue du Commandant Cousteau.

Which Oscar did The Silent World win in 1957, a year after its Palme d'Or?

It remained the only documentary to win the Palme d'Or until Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004.

His 1985 Emmy-winning informational special explored which great American river?

His Amazon films and Rediscovery of the World were both made with TBS in the 1980s.

Which numbered seat of the Académie française did Cousteau take in 1988, succeeding Jean Delay?

Érik Orsenna took the seat after Cousteau's death in 1997.

In 1980-81 Cousteau was a regular on which US animal reality show with Burgess Meredith?

Priscilla Presley and Jim Stafford were also on the show's roster.

Which watchmaker's 2007 'Cousteau Divers' chronograph contained a sliver of wood from the Calypso?

Part of the proceeds went to the Cousteau Society's marine conservation work.