96 years ago yesterday Titanic sank in freezing waters on its maiden voyage.
It's been the object of fascination (including mine) ever since...
Here are some facts & stories about Titanic & its people...
(I knew much of the following information but fact-checked and pulled new info from
Wikipedia.)
-The "unsinkable" Titanic struck an ice berg just before midnight on April 14, 1912 and sank 2 hours and 40 minutes later, resulting in the deaths of 1,517 people.
-Titanic was never christened before her voyage...the superstitious would say that is VERY bad luck.
-Captain Edward Smith went down with his ship. There are several stories as to his actual death and whereabouts...he was in the water with a lifejacket, he was in the bridge, he was in the bridge wheelhouse as the open bridge flooded, he was near Deck A when the Grand Staircase windows gave way and he was sucked in...none alive know for certain. There is a statue in honor of him in Lichfield, England.
-There were many famous passengers...millionaire
John Jacob Astor and his wife
Madeleine Force Astor; industrialist
Benjamin Guggenheim;
Macy's owner
Isidor Straus and his wife
Ida;
Denver millionairess
Margaret "Molly" Brown; Sir
Cosmo Duff Gordon and his wife couturiere
Lady Lucille Duff-Gordon; George Elkins Widener and his wife Eleanor; John Borland Thayer, his wife Marian and their seventeen-year-old son, Jack; journalist
William Thomas Stead; the Countess of Rothes; U.S. presidential aide
Archibald Butt; author and socialite Helen Churchill Candee; author
Jacques Futrelle, his wife May, and their friends,
Broadway producers Henry and Irene Harris; silent film actress
Dorothy Gibson; and others. Also travelling in first–class were White Star Line's managing director
J. Bruce Ismay who came up with the idea for Titanic and the ship's builder
Thomas Andrews, who was on board to observe any problems and assess the general performance of the new ship.
-Crew members ignored warnings of icebergs in the area.
-One less flooded compartment (from the actual iceberg strike) and Titanic would not have sunk...it seems conditions were perfect for it to go down...like it was meant to happen.
-Titanic carried more lifeboats than required by the British Board of Regulations...but still not enough to hold all passengers and crew...by about half. And many of the lifeboats were launched with empty seats. No one really believed Titanic was really sinking until it was too late. One boat meant to hold 40...left with only 12.
-The bow went under first bringing the stern completely out of and perpendicular to the water, the electricity finally went out, the hull cracked and Titanic broke apart. (The 1997 movie depiction is accurate to personal & scientific accounts.) The bow pulled the stern vertical again as it had not broken completely away...yet.
-Only 2 lifeboats went back to rescue survivors after the ship sank. Most of the people who died succombed to hypothermia...the water was only 28 degrees F.
-706 of 2,223 people survived.
-The ship's band continued to play music on deck even when it became apparent it would indeed sink.
-The wreckage was not found until September 1, 1985.
-There is only 1 living survivor -
Millvina Dean, who was only two months old at the time of the sinking, is the only living survivor of the Titanic. Currently 96 years old, she has remained active in Titanic-related events and lives in Southampton, England.
A list of crew members and passengers is available through the Wikipedia link.
I added 4 new blogs to my Google Reader today, as if I need anymore...the total I subscribe to is now up to 84. Reader makes suggestions for other blogs based on what you subscribe to and these were gems! Well, for me anyway.
Stacy & Mary Photography is based in Indy and they have great pics! (Plus they have great names...Mary's my mom's name)
They even made a video game of the video game in the movie that was used to smuggle military secrets.
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