Frederick Otis Barton Jr. (June 5, 1899 â€" April 15, 1992) was an
American deep-sea diver, inventor and actor.Born in New York, the
independently wealthy Barton designed the first bathysphere and made a
dive with William Beebe off Bermuda in June 1930. They set the first
record for deep-sea diving by descending 600 ft (180 m). In 1934, they
set another record at 3,028 ft (923 m). Barton acted in the 1938
Hollywood movie, Titans of the Deep.In 1949, Barton set a new world
record with a 4,500 foot (1,372 m) dive in the Pacific Ocean, using
his benthoscope (from the Greek benthos, meaning 'sea bottom', and
scopein, 'to view'), which was designed by Barton and Maurice
Nelles.Barton wrote the book The World Beneath the Sea, published in
1953. Like Beebe, Barton was also interested in exploring tropical
rain forests, and spent considerable time in places like Gabon. In
1978, Barton successfully tested a "jungle spaceship" (actually an
airship) that was intended to film wildlife.
American deep-sea diver, inventor and actor.Born in New York, the
independently wealthy Barton designed the first bathysphere and made a
dive with William Beebe off Bermuda in June 1930. They set the first
record for deep-sea diving by descending 600 ft (180 m). In 1934, they
set another record at 3,028 ft (923 m). Barton acted in the 1938
Hollywood movie, Titans of the Deep.In 1949, Barton set a new world
record with a 4,500 foot (1,372 m) dive in the Pacific Ocean, using
his benthoscope (from the Greek benthos, meaning 'sea bottom', and
scopein, 'to view'), which was designed by Barton and Maurice
Nelles.Barton wrote the book The World Beneath the Sea, published in
1953. Like Beebe, Barton was also interested in exploring tropical
rain forests, and spent considerable time in places like Gabon. In
1978, Barton successfully tested a "jungle spaceship" (actually an
airship) that was intended to film wildlife.
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