Short answers, pulled from the story.
The name derives from the Rock of Gibraltar, which traces to the Arabic Jabal Tariq, meaning "Tariq's Mount." It was named after Tariq ibn Ziyad, the military commander associated with the Moorish crossing into Iberia.
At its narrowest, the Strait of Gibraltar is 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers) wide. Ferries cross between Europe and Africa in as little as 35 minutes.
The Messinian salinity crisis was a period beginning around 5.97 million years ago when the Atlantic-Mediterranean connection closed, causing Mediterranean salinity to rise to levels that deposited salt and gypsum on the seabed. The crisis lasted around 640,000 years. The Strait reopened approximately 5.33 million years ago through the Zanclean flood.
From September 1941 to May 1944, Germany sent 62 submarines into the Mediterranean by cutting their engines and using the deep outgoing current to pass silently through the British-controlled strait. Nine U-boats were sunk during the attempt and ten more turned back with damage.
Mercedes Gleitze was the first known person to swim across the Strait of Gibraltar, completing the crossing on the 6th of April 1928 in 12 hours and 50 minutes. It was her sixth attempt; her first was in December 1927.
Spain and Morocco have discussed an undersea rail tunnel since the 1980s. In December 2003 they formally agreed to explore the project, and in April 2021 ministers from both countries agreed to hold a joint intergovernmental meeting in Casablanca to resume talks after more than 40 years without a concrete outcome.