The Wild Blue Yonder

or centuries, people have plunged underwater, whether to search for abalone, catch fish, collect pearls, or simply explore. Early Greeks used hollow reeds to breathe underwater, and Leonardo da Vinci brainstormed early diving suits in Renaissance Italy. In the 1940s, Frenchmen Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnan created the Aqualung, the first self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (scuba), which eventually led to recreational diving.