On 23 January 1960 the bathyscaphe Trieste, piloted by the Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard and US Navy lieutenant Don Walsh, descended to the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, about 10,900 metres below the surface, the deepest known point in the oceans. The descent took almost five hours and they spent only 20 minutes on the bottom, where they reported seeing a flatfish, though this has been questioned. No human went back until film director James Cameron's solo dive in 2012. Victor Vescovo reached the same place in 2019.
Before and after
- 1960sThe Troubles
- 1960Founding of International Development Association
- 4 January 1960Founding of European Free Trade Association
- 4 January 1960Death of Albert Camus
- 23 January 1960Piccard and Walsh reach the bottom of the Challenger Deep
- 23 February 1960Birth of Naruhito
- 21 March 1960Birth of Ayrton Senna
- 21 March 1960Sharpeville massacre
- 19 April 1960April Revolution
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- 14 July 1965Mariner 4 sends the first close-up pictures of Mars
- 3 December 1973Pioneer 10 flies past Jupiter
- 1 September 1985The wreck of the Titanic is found
- 26 September 2022DART spacecraft deflects an asteroid
- 23 August 2023Chandrayaan-3 lands near the lunar south pole
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.