On this day in ...

1953 - Marine archeologist Jacques Cousteau became renowned worldwide for documenting his deep sea explorations. His first and most-lasting work, The Silent World, was published on this date. He attracted world attention when he salvaged a 1,000-pound Roman freighter near Marseilles. While in the French navy, he and engineer Emil Gargon invented the aqualung. However, Cousteau is best known for his documentaries and book.

1960 - British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan foreshadowed the decolonization of Africa, telling the South African parliament: "The wind of change is blowing through the continent." 

1972 - In Sapporo, Japan, the first Winter Olympics held in Asia took place. 

1994 - President Bill Clinton announced the lifting of the United States trade embargo against Vietnam, marking a dramatic shift in relations chilled for decades by war and postwar hostility.