January 21, 1954: The USS Nautilus Is Launched

January 21, 1954: The USS Nautilus is launched in Groton, Connecticut. It is the world's 1st nuclear-powered submarine.

Named for Captain Nemo's submarine in Jules Verne's novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, it was the 1st submarine to complete a submerged transit of the North Pole, on August 3, 1958. Apparently, that was considered a big deal at the time.

She served through the Vietnam War era, was decommissioned in 1980, and is now on display, back at her "birthplace" in Groton, at the U.S. Navy Submarine Force Library and Museum, about 130 miles northeast of Midtown Manhattan, and 105 miles southwest of downtown Boston.

*

January 21, 1954 was a Wednesday. Baseball and football were out of season. No games were scheduled for the NBA.

There were 2 games in the NHL. The Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Canadiens, 1-0 at the Montreal Forum. And the Boston Bruins beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 3-2 in what was technically a home game for the Hawks, at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum (now the Indiana Farmers Coliseum) in Indianapolis. The New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs were not scheduled.