lighting. BIRNS's lights are now used by the navies of more than 23 countries, 83% of USA-based commercial nuclear power stations, NASA at KSC, and many others. In 1985 the oldest shipwreck ever found (approximately 3,500 years old) was excavated using BIRNS lights; among other underwater archaeological finds he illuminated were the Civil War Ironclad "Monitor", the "Hamilton", the "Scourge", the "Andrea Doria", and the "Titanic". In March 1984 the Los Angeles City Council passed a resolution honoring Birns’s 30 years of work there, and in October 1984 his photos hung in New York and Washington as part of a LIFE magazine exhibit of the best pictures of the 1950–1960 decade. Retirement Birns retired from active involvement in business in 1987, to spend more time with his family. He continued to be a guest speaker on pre-revolutionary China and artistic photography. He published a book, Assignment: Shanghai; Pictures on the Eve of Revolution, a picture-chronicle of life in Pre-Communist China, and he donated his services to teach adult swimming at the YMCA and, later, to teach photography to the blind and sight-impaired at the Braille Institute (Los Angeles.) Death Jack Birns died in Los Angeles on February 10, 2008. He was predeceased by his wife and oldest son. He was survived by six children. Sources BBC article on Jack Birns Obituary: Jack Birns External links University of California Press article on book Jack Birns photographs the Simplon Orient Express in 1950 American photojournalists 1919 births 2008 deaths Life (magazine) photojournalists Ohio Northern University alumni