May 26, 1956: Jacques Cousteau Premieres "The Silent World"

May 26, 1956: The Silent World premieres at the Cannes Film Festival, on the French Riviera. It wins the Festival's top prize, the Palm d'Or (Golden Palm). It was based on the book The Silent World: A Story of Undersea Discovery and Adventure, by Jacques Cousteau, the inventor of SCUBA: Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

The film was shot aboard Cousteau's ship, the RV Calypso, formerly a British minesweeper in World War II. He and his team of divers shot 15 miles of film over 2 years in the Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. It was the first time many people had seen the wonders of animal and plant life under the ocean.

The film later faced criticism for environmental damage done during the filmmaking. In one scene, the crew of the Calypso massacre a school of sharks that were drawn to the carcass of a baby whale for some reason, which itself had been mortally injured by the crew, albeit accidentally. In another, Cousteau used dynamite near a coral reef in order to make a more complete census of the marine life in its vicinity.

Cousteau later became more environmentally conscious, involved in marine conservation, and was even called "the father of the environmental movement" by CNN boss Ted Turner. He hosted The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau on ABC from 1968 to 1976, and The Cousteau Odyssey on PBS from 1977 to 1982. This put him alongside such PBS stars as music conductor Leonard Bernstein and chef Julia Child and, later, astronomer Carl Sagan and painter Bob Ross.

Cousteau died in 1997, at the age of 87. The Calypso, under the ownership of the Cousteau Society, is currently undergoing restoration.

A 2019 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History featured "Nice" Peter Shukoff playing Cousteau, and "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist playing Australian animal activist Steve Irwin. Referencing the "census," Irwin said, "If you want to count fish, please take the reef tour! Don't go throwing C4 on the seafloor!"

But sometimes, Peter and Lloyd blow it, producing battles between friends, or at least between a long-dead legend and a later person who admired him. In real life, Irwin was a great admirer of Cousteau, and was even working with his grandson, Philippe Cousteau Jr., on a Discovery Channel documentary when he was killed by a poisonous stingray in 2006.

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May 26, 1956 was a Saturday. This was also the day that the Garden State Parkway opened. I have a separate entry for that event. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 9-4 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Mickey McDermott was knocked out of the box in the 1st inning. Mickey Mantle went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the New York Giants, 6-0 in the Polo Grounds. Roger Craig pitched a 3-hit shutout. Sandy Amoros, Randy Jackson and Carl Furillo hit home runs. Jackie Robinson went 1-for-2. Willie Mays did not play for the Giants.

* The Washington Senators beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. The only Sox run came on a pinch-hit RBI single by Ted Williams.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Athletics, 12-6 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Al Kaline went 2-for-4 with a walk.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Cincinnati Redlegs, 2-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Frank Torre singled home Hank Aaron with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

* The Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals, arch-rivals, were rained out at the 1st Busch Stadium (formerly the last Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 19. The Cards won the opener, 6-0. Murry Dickson pitched a 2-hit shutout. The Cubs won the nightcap, 3-1. Over the 2 games, Stan Musial went 3-for-9 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Ernie Banks did not play in either game.

* And the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians were rained out at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 31. The Indians won the opener, 3-2. The White Sox won the nightcap, 1-0. Dick Donovan not only went the distance for the White Sox, but singled home the winning run off Early Wynn in the bottom of the 10th inning.