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Charles William Beebe (July 29, 1877 – June 4, 1962), American ornithologist, explorer, and author.

Beebe was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was curator of ornithology for the New York Zoological Society from 1899 to 1952. In 1919 he was also made director of the department of tropical research and in later years he established the New York Zoological Society's Tropical Research Station on a property in one of the last remaining stands of tropical rainforest in Trinidad. It was next to an old cocoa plantation owned by the charming Icelandic woman, Asa Wright, who did so much to make visiting scientists at home. Both these adjoining properies Simla Research Station in the Arima Valley, Trinidad and Tobago were donated to the people of Trinidad and Tobago as nature reserves and now form one of the finest birdwatching sites in the Caribbean.

He wrote many popular books (my potboilers) of his expeditions some of which became best sellers in the 1920s and 1930s. The money from the sale of these books helped finance his later expeditions. He also wrote a magnificent Monograph on Pheasants which remains the classic reference to that class of birds.

His interest in deep-sea exploration led to the development of the bathysphere, a spherical metal diving vessel. In 1934 he made a record descent of 923m (3028 ft.) with Otis Barton.

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• 1877 births
• 1962 deaths
• Explorers
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