Jacques Piccard was a deep-sea explorer who holds the record for deepest submarine dive. Born to a family of explorers, Jacques Piccard helped his father, Auguste, build a submarine called a bathyscaphe, meaning "deep boat." The bathyscape, named the Trieste, was capable of reaching the deepest parts of the ocean.Suite101.com: Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh (September 13, 2007) Piccard and Navy officer Don Walsh took the Trieste to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in January 23, 1960. The expedition was sponsored by the U.S. Navy. They went nearly 7 miles under the ocean, a record that has never been broken. During their trip, they discovered that, contrary to previous beliefs, marine life lived and thrived at the bottom of the ocean. Because of their discovery, nuclear waste dumping in deep-ocean trenches was outlawed. Piccard continued to explore underwater environments until he was 82 years old.Swissinfo: Deep-sea adventurer Jacques Piccard is dead (November 1, 2008) Piccard died November 1, 2008. He was 86 years old.NY Times: Jacques Piccard, Scientist Who Explored the Deep Seas, Dies at 86 (November 1, 2008)