January 21: The first nuclear-powered submarine was launched (1954)

USS Nautilus

The first operational nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus was launched into the Thames River, Connecticut. She was commissioned on September 30, 1954. She was powered by a pressurized water reactor produced by Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Thanks to the nuclear propulsion, Nautilus could stay under water far longer than diesel-powered submarines. Nautilus was the first vessel to complete a submerged transit beneath the North Pole on August 3, 1958, which was named as Operation Sunshine. After over a quarter century of service and record-breaking operations, she was decommissioned on March 3, 1980. She was named as the official state ship of Connecticut in 1983.