Did you know...?

Some bodies recovered from the Titanic's gnarled wreckage were found to have no shoes on. This was quite a surprise, especially since they were pulled from freezing cold Arctic waters! To see why these people did this, click "Read More" below.

Many of the RMS Titanic fire-fighters were found shoeless, as well as many men and staff. Why? These people all removed their shoes in hopes of swimming to safety. Their efforts were in vain, though, as many of them merely froze within the waters before they could make any significant progress. (There were a small handful successful in their attempts, one such example of this being Thomas Dillon.)

A now-famous example of a tragic death resulting from this mentality is that of a man who signed on as "J. Dawson". After the release of James Cameron's famous film, his grave [located in Halifax, Nova Scotia] was believed to belong to a real Jack Dawson. However, this was later disproved through careful research. Though both shared several similarities – both had lovely sweethearts and virtually gambled their way onto the ocean liner, for instance – the true J Dawson was most definitely not Jack. The Dublin-born J Dawson was later revealed to be Joseph Dawson, and his carpenter's toolbox is still a treasured Dawson family heirloom (last seen under the possession of his sister, May Dawson).