Did you know...?

A newspaper covering the death of celebrity J. J. Astor aboard ship

According to many accounts, the pristine calm ocean gave not even the slightest indication of the tragedy which occurred 14 April, 1912. However, that night, 1523 of the 2228 passengers aboard the RMS Titanic died; of these 1523 people, many died in the water as opposed to aboard the ship.

By the morning of 15 April, 1912 the world was aware of the terrible catastrophe. Newspapers around the world were abuzz with news similar to the sample to the left. Most reports focused on the celebrities who died aboard the ship; the article to the left specifically references the death of wealthy J. J. Astor. However, amidst the buzz of famous lives cut short, many names were thrown to the side; most of these names belonged to less prominent figures in second and third class (though some first class names were also ruled off of publishing priority lists).

In one night, in the calmest but most frigid of seas, the passengers of the Titanic were all exposed to death. Only 705 of the over 2000 passenger and crew made it through the experience. The ship began with 337 first class passengers, 285 second class passengers, 721 third class passengers, and 885 crew members. Overnight the ship which the world had waited for with baited breath plunged into the sea, taking with it sixty-eight percent (68%) of those aboard.