On April 14th 1912, the biggest ship in the world, the RMS Titanic, set sail from Southampton, England. The decks were lined with over 2200 people waving to the gathered crowd. who were all there to see this historical event. The RMS Titanic had gotten a ton of press from the moment her keel was laid, and everyone was interested in seeing this huge ship set sail on her maiden voyage. During this time in history, the world was not quite into the 20th century, and there was a certain naivety to everyone. The famous Mark Twain had given a name to this era in time, called the Gilded Age, because mankind had a certain arrogant attitude. Mankind was prospering in ways it had never before, and even the great Mother Nature herself could not touch the greatness that man suddenly had. Things such as the automobile were in an assembly line production thanks to the brilliance of Henry Ford, and other greats feats of man were happening in the United States. Was this the end of Mother Nature? Did mankind truly prove to be the dominant force in the universe? While anyone during the time period might respond with an overwhelming yes, the answer was no, and the 2200 people aboard the RMS Titanic were about to find out just how powerful Mother Nature truly was. Some of the 2200 people that boarded the biggest ship in the world, were about to pay with their lives for the arrogance of mankind.
1. The Titanic Is Found in 1985
When the mighty RMS Titanic sank in 1912, the world was in shock, and that spelled the end of the so-called Gilded Age. What was next? How was the world going to be now that everything had changed literally overnight? Once things had settled down, and the world began to move on from the horrific tragedy of the Titanic, the news then became, who was going to find it? Could the RMS Titanic ever be found, and raised from her watery grave? Within a few months of the sinking, there were plans in the works to bring the Titanic, and the search was on for her, but no one was able to locate her. It would take decades for the right technology to be created. It was not until 1985, that the right man, with the right technology, would be the one to find the Titanic in her final resting place. Dr. Robert Ballard, who represented the Woods Hole Institute, with the help of the US Navy, would be the ones to find the great ship. When Ballard found the Titanic, the world got the fever, and it has been infected with it ever since. Dr. Robert Ballard is the one who first explored the lost ship, sent pictures of her tattered remains to the world, and she has been making the news consistently ever since.
2. A Titanic Celebration for the 107th Anniversary of the RMS Titanic Sinking
April 15, 2019, is the 107th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. To commemorate such an occassion, the city of Cohn, Ireland, marked the special occasion with a ceremony. What is so specail about Cohn, Ireland? What people may not know, is that when the RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, she made a couple of stops before she headed out across the North Atlantic. The first stop the Titanic made was the night of April 10th, when she stopped at Cherbourg, France. The next stop was the city of Queenstown, Ireland, but later on, it was renamed Cobh in 1920. There were 123 residents of Queenstown that boarded the Titanic that fateful day, and for the anniversary, the town wants to pay tribute to the ship and its fallen residents.
On Sunday, April 14, 1912, the ceremony will begin at the Titanic Memorial Garden, which is located on the waterfront, and from that point, the final place the Titanic anchored before she headed out to the open sea. A wreath will be placed on the glass memorial wall, which bears the names of the 123 passengers that were on the unsinkable ship that fateful night. There will be a parade from Old Town Hall at Lynch’s Quay to the Titanic Memorial located in Pearse Square. At the Titanic Memorial, the names of the passengers from Queenstown that died are listed there, and out of 123 passengers, 79 were killed when the Titanic struck the iceberg and sank.
Those that boarded the Titanic were looking for a better life in a new country with all of their hopes and dreams packed into whatever bags they could carry. Some of the passengers that boarded the Titanic were from all walks of life, and whether they were from America, France, or Ireland, they all wanted to experience adventure on the open sea. However, on the night of April 14,1912, the most amazing ship in the world, hit an iceberg, and slowly sank into the North Atlantic. Despite everything that the crew tried to do, the ship slipped into the black water, and over 1500 people lost their lives. Ever since 1912, there have been ceremonies every year to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on that fateful day, and people will continue to learn lessons about the biggest ship in the world that set sailed from England, but never made it to New York City.
