# Once, 50 years ago. For 20 minutes. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 23, 2010, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086 "2010-01-23T06:00:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/1 "2010-01-23T06:00:45Z")
The [Bathyscape Trieste](http://bjsonline.com/watches/articles/0022_3.shtml) descended to the floor of the Marianas Trench on January 23, 1960, exactly 50 years ago today. For 20 minutes. In 1960. But only once. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/2 "2010-01-23T07:08:03Z")
That’s deep. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/3 "2010-01-23T07:12:25Z")
Hm. You learn something new every day. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/4 "2010-01-23T07:20:29Z")
And do you happen to know what song they had playing as they made the descent? Rio, by Duran Duran. 22 years before its release. Little-known fact. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/5 "2010-01-23T10:09:16Z")
I just yesterday learned that Martin Luther King once spoke in our town. It was Jan. 22, 1960. We’re a very white college town, but there were people out the door, in the halls, and around the block to hear him. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/6 "2010-01-23T11:54:00Z")
But it was only for twenty minutes. Twenty minutes. Once. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/7 "2010-01-23T13:39:50Z")
That was fascinating, I learned a lot. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Zweedo\_Rodriguez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b487fb/32.png) [@Zweedo\_Rodriguez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zweedo_Rodriguez)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/8 "2010-01-23T14:04:32Z")
> [@](#): > > The Trieste stayed on the bottom for 30 minutes :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/9 "2010-01-23T14:19:19Z")
So many questions unanswered. When did we dive in the Marianas Trench? How long were we there? Have we ever done it since? ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/10 "2010-01-23T14:50:11Z")
> [@Zweedo\_Rodriguez](#): > > The Trieste stayed on the bottom for 30 minutes :dubious: They were so deep that time slowed down. _They_ experienced 30 minutes, but we on the surface only had 20 minutes go by. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/11 "2010-01-23T14:58:00Z")
Am I to believe that they sent 2 men down there without sending a lower primate down first? Come on, what was the monkey’s name? ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/12 "2010-01-23T18:41:21Z")
Holy crap, 1960 was 50 years ago now? 'Scuse me while I go cry in my Geritol. (In another request, being a new Doper, I don’t quite understand the genesis of the “once, for about 20 minutes” meme here, I know it has something to do with the Marianas Trench. Where did this meme start (I won’t ask “why”, I know better than that. 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/13 "2010-01-23T18:54:15Z")
Um, I’ve been a doper for 8 years and use the internet every day. I’m not aware that it’s a meme. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/14 "2010-01-23T19:00:48Z")
There! Found it: [Not many people know that... - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=283407) Not many people know that … ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/15 "2010-01-23T19:04:22Z")
It wasn’t a bathyscape; it was Chuck Norris. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/16 "2010-01-24T18:56:16Z")
okay, so once, in 1960… it happened for 20 minutes. but let’s not forget that… it also happened in the 1920’s and… it also happened on a treadmill and… Hi! Opal. (yeah, I’m sorry. Really, really sorry… … but somebody had to say it…) ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/17 "2010-01-24T21:40:06Z")
Og shall smite you. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/18 "2010-01-24T21:47:04Z")
I burning your bathyscape. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/19 "2010-01-25T01:09:22Z")
I was under the impression that a lot of vessels had gone to the bottom, once. ---
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086/20 "2010-01-25T01:56:09Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > okay, so once, in 1960… > it happened for 20 minutes. > but let’s not forget that… > it also happened in the 1920’s > and… > it also happened on a treadmill > and… > Hi! Opal. > (yeah, I’m sorry. > Really, really sorry… > … > but somebody had to say it…) but now, …all your Bathyscapes are belong to us! _(ducks & runs…)_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-50-years-ago-for-20-minutes/526086.md?page=2)