1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
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The USS Nautilus, the world’s first operational nuclear-powered submarine and the first submarine to complete a submerged transit of the North Pole, was commissioned into the U.S. Navy on Sept. 30, 1954. The sub’s initial commanding officer was Eugene “Dennis” Wilkinson, and the vessel shared its name with both Captain Nemo’s fictional submarine in Jules Verne’s classic 1870 science fiction novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” and with the USS Nautilus (SS-168) that served with distinction in World War II. The nuclear-powered Nautilus was authorized in 1951, with laying down for construction in 1952 and launched in January 1954. Final construction was completed in 1955. The nuclear propulsion allowed it to remain submerged far longer than diesel-electric submarines, and travel to previously untapped locations. The submarine was decommissioned in 1980 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982.
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