A pocket vigil , which was think from the body of a shop steward named Sidney Sedunary , stopped ticking at precisely 1:50 a.m. — a little over two hours after theTitanicmade contact with the iceberg and a one-half 60 minutes before it disappeared beneath the open of the sea . Along with the picket , Sedunary was also carrying a key that was used to open up a closet containing lifejackets . He was last control handing lifejackets to third - course of instruction passengers on a abject deck .
Warning : The 9th fact in this post cite an instance of suicide .
1.Construction on theTitanicbegan inDecember 1909. By the time it was officially completed in 1912, the total cost of the ship was about $7.5 million.In today’s dollars, that’s more than $400 million.
2.There were at least 12 dogs aboard theTitanic, most of which were held in its “first-rate” kennel. The ship’s carpenter wasresponsiblefor taking the dogs out for exercise and to use the bathroom. As most of these dogs belonged to first-class passengers, they were said to be very well cared for. There was even a dog show scheduled for April 15, the day the ship sank.
3.This isFrederick Fleet. He was the lookout for theTitanicon the night it sank and the first to spot the iceberg in its path, which he described as “a black object, high above the water, right ahead.” According to him, his first attempts to report the sighting went unanswered. By the time his messages werefinallyreceived, a mere minute before striking the iceberg, it was too late. That night, as he sat in a lifeboat and watched the ship sink, he allegedly expressed concern that he would be blamed — and his fears were somewhat well founded; an official inquiry would dispute the timeline of events that he provided. Frederick Fleet would spend the rest of his remaining 53 years of lifeconsumed by guilt.
4.You might remember J. Bruce Ismay from the 1997 filmTitanic— if not, allow me to refresh your memory: He was the selfishly idiotic owner of the ship and managing director of the White Star Line who, eager to make headlines by arriving in New York ahead of schedule, pressured the captain into cranking up the speed to such an unsafe degree that it set the ship on a collision course with an iceberg. Then, in an act of cowardice, he stole a seat on a lifeboat from another passenger and weaseled away in the night while more than 1,500 people died in the mess he had a direct hand in making.Well, it turns out that none of that actually happened.
5.This isWallace Hartley, the Titanic’s bandmaster — the very same bandmaster who, according to surviving eyewitnesses, played on the deck among the panicked crowds of passengers with his quintet band as the ship sank.
6.And this is hisactual violin. Wallace’s body was found floating in the Atlantic several days after the tragedy, and his violin was found strapped to his back and stored safely inside its case. There’s an inscription on the lower bout of the instrument that reads: “For Wallace on the occasion of our engagement. From Maria.”
7.And this is the only known letter that Wallace Hartley wrote while aboard the Titanic — and it’s written on official RMS Titanic stationery.
8.Joseph Philippe Lemercier Larochewas the only Black passenger to die when the Titanic went down. Additionally, he and his two daughters, Simonne and Louise Laroche, were theonly threeBlack passengers on the entire ship.
9.First Officer William Murdoch was yet another real person who was portrayed negatively in the 1997 blockbuster — he was the crewman who accepted a bribe from a passenger for a spot on a lifeboat, and he later shot and killed a panicked passenger before turning the gun on himself.According to surviving eyewitnesses, Murdoch actually worked tirelessly to save the ship, and when it was clear that the ship was beyond saving, he tried to load as many lifeboats with passengers as he could. In Scotland, where Murdoch was from, he’s celebrated as a hero for his conduct on that tragic and chaotic night.
10.This pocket watch was retrieved from the body of a steward named Sidney Sedunary. It stopped ticking at precisely 1:50 a.m. —a little over two hoursafter theTitanicmade contact with the iceberg and a half hour before it disappeared beneath the surface of the ocean. Along with this watch, Sedunary was also carryinga keythat was used to open a cupboard containing lifejackets. He was last seen handing lifejackets to third-class passengers on a lower deck.
11.There were eight Chinese passengers on board the Titanic when it departed from Southampton, England. Six would survive the tragedy. Fang Lang, one of the survivors, nearly froze to death as he clung to a door in the icy waters, waiting to be rescued. He was eventually picked up by the only lifeboat that turned back to search for survivors — a moment that was recreated inone of the deleted scenesin the 1997 filmTitanic.
12.For the six who survived — Ling Hee, Fang Lang, Lee Bing, Ah Lam, Chang Chip, and Chung Foo — the sinking of the Titanic would only mark the beginning of their struggles. The racist and despicableChinese Exclusion Act, which barred Chinese laborers from entering the United States, was in full effect in 1912 (it wouldn’t be repealed until 1943), so upon their arrival in New York, they were taken directly to Ellis Island for processing and promptly turned away and shipped to Cuba — for context, every other surviving Titanic passenger was allowed to bypass Ellis Island.
13.This photographof an iceberg is believed to have been taken on 15 March 2025, from the deck of the SS Prinz Adalbert. Though the Titanic sank in the early hours of the previous day, no one on this liner was aware of the tragedy despite their close proximity to where it occurred. Passengers on the Prinz Adalbert claim that this particular iceberg (pictured below) had a large strip of red paint on it, and, sensing its significance, one of them snapped a photo — there’s only one problem: This was NOT the iceberg that sank the Titanic.
14.This photograph, on the other hand, was taken from the deck of the SS Carpathia, which traveled directly to the collision site two hours after the Titanic sank to search for survivors. Though we may never know for sure, there’s a much higher likelihood that this is the iceberg responsible for the tragedy.
15.Here’s another photo taken from the Carpathia, this time of a lifeboat approaching the rescue ship. Though the Titanic didn’t have enough lifeboats on board to begin with, many were sent out only half — sometimes less than half — full.Many passengers believedit was safer to remain on the sinking ship than to board a lifeboat under the misguided assumption that the Titanic, even though badly damaged, would remain afloat for many hours.
16.Richard Norris Williamswas a Titanic survivor who went on to become a Wimbledon champion and an Olympic gold medalist — all thanks to his adamant refusal to allow his legs to be amputated while aboard the Carpathia after spendingsix hoursin the freezing cold water.
17.And for the next 73 years, the Titanic was lost until, in the early 1980s, a retired Navy officer and professor of oceanography named Robert Ballard announced that he would begin searching for the wreckage, whichhe successfully located in 1985.
18.During a 1986 exploration of the Titanic wreckage,these dishes were spottedsitting on the ocean floor in this eerily organized arrangement — it’s believed that the cabinet that contained them, made of wood, settled here and then rotted away:
19.Some of those dishes were recovered and put on display atTitanic: The Artifact Exhibitionin 2010. Here are those same dishes looking almost brand new:
20.The wreck of the Titanic is rapidly disappearing, and researchers believe that in about20 to 30 years, it’ll be gone entirely. The culprit? In 2010, a closer analysis of some earlier-collected samples turned up a brand-new species of rust-eating bacteria, aptly namedHalomonas titanicae, and it’s making a feast of the iconic ship. In 2019, the wreckage was visited for the first time in14 years, and lo and behold, many portions of the ship that were once intact — like the officers' quarters — had collapsed entirely.
21.Here’s what one of the Titanic’s propellerslooks like todayas it sits on the ocean floor — also soon to be lost:
22.No photographsof the Titanic’s iconic grand staircase exist. If you’ve seen any old photos that claim to depict the Titanic’s grand staircase, odds are it’s actually the RMS Olympic, the Titanic’s sister ship.
23.Here’s what the Titanic’s actual grand staircase looked like as of 2001. This is a screenshot from James Cameron’s documentaryGhosts of the Abyss:
And last but not least, you might someday know what it’s like to walk the deck of the Titanic yourself…
24.A life-sized replicaof the Titanic is currently under construction in China. Once completed, it will serve as a theme park.
TheNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineis 1 - 800 - 273 - 8255 . Other international self-destruction helplines can be find atbefrienders.org . The Trevor Project , which provides help and self-destruction - prevention resources for LGBTQ juvenility , is 1 - 866 - 488 - 7386 . you could also text TALK to 741741 for innocent , anon. 24/7 crisis musical accompaniment in the US and UK from theCrisis Text business line .
