ARCHAEOLOGIST

Robert Ballard

1942 - Today

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Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942) is an American retired Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is noted for his work in underwater archaeology (maritime archaeology and archaeology of shipwrecks) and marine geology. He is best known by the general public for the discoveries of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic in 1985, the battleship Bismarck in 1989, and the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in 1998. He discovered the wreck of John F. Kennedy's PT-109 in 2002 and visited Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, who saved its crew. Ballard discovered hydrothermal vents, where life goes on powered by nutrient chemicals emitted by the vents rather than the sunlight that drives most life on Earth; he said "finding hydrothermal vents beats the hell out of finding the Titanic", and his mother commented "It's too bad you found that rusty old boat... Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in 32 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 30 in 2019). Robert Ballard is the 32nd most popular archaeologist (down from 30th in 2019), the 2,337th most popular biography from United States (down from 2,106th in 2019) and the 4th most popular American Archaeologist.

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Among ARCHAEOLOGISTS

Among archaeologists, Robert Ballard ranks 32 out of 151. Before him are Aurel Stein, Bogdan Filov, Paul Pelliot, Yuri Knorozov, Othniel Charles Marsh, and Isdal Woman. After him are Wilhelm Dörpfeld, Hat Hor, André Leroi-Gourhan, George Smith, Jacques Boucher de Crèvecœur de Perthes, and John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1942, Robert Ballard ranks 170. Before him are Linda Evans, Herbjørg Wassmo, Prince Alexandre of Belgium, Valeriy Brumel, Jozef Adamec, and Zhou Yongkang. After him are Andy Summers, Ruslan Khasbulatov, Pierre Clémenti, David Bradley, Koji Funamoto, and Mario Terán.

Others Born in 1942

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Robert Ballard ranks 2,337 out of 20,380. Before him are Clifford Odets (1906), Jim Hines (1946), Anne Sexton (1928), Walker Evans (1903), Irving Penn (1917), and Jerome Powell (1953). After him are William F. Sharpe (1934), Justin Timberlake (1981), William Moulton Marston (1893), Danny Kaye (1911), Allison Janney (1959), and Nancy Allen (1950).

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Among ARCHAEOLOGISTS In United States

Among archaeologists born in United States, Robert Ballard ranks 4. Before him are Edward Drinker Cope (1840), George Gaylord Simpson (1902), and Othniel Charles Marsh (1831). After him are James Henry Breasted (1865), Charles W. Gilmore (1874), Sylvanus Morley (1883), J. P. Mallory (1945), Donald Johanson (1943), Edward Robinson (1794), Lewis Binford (1932), and Robert T. Bakker (1945).

American born Archaeologists

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