About This Quiz
The sinking of the Titanic on its maiden voyage was one of the worst maritime disasters in history, but no one could see it coming. In fact, it was the last thing they expected. In this quiz, we'll explore the truth.Would you believe that the Titanic ran on 825 tons of coal a day? That required 176 men shoveling the stuff into furnaces.
The Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, and made stops at Cherbourg, France, and Cobh, Ireland. It was headed back to New York.
In its day, the Titanic was the largest passenger ship ever built. It was also the largest man-made moving object on Earth.
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The full name for the ship was the RMS Titanic. RMS stands for Royal Mail Ship.
There were roughly 2,200 people on board. Only 706 passengers and crew survived the disaster.
Would you believe it? The Titanic was like a floating city, complete with its own newspaper, the "Atlantic Daily Bulletin."
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The White Star Line, known more formally as the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, was the shipping company responsible for the Olympic class ocean liners that included the Titanic.
The RMS Carpathia didn't arrive until 4 a.m. the following morning. Most people in the water had frozen to death.
The Olympic and the Britannic were the other ships in White Star's Olympic line. The Britannic hit an underwater mine and sank in 1916, and the Olympic remained in service until 1935.
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The Titanic struck the iceberg at 11:40 p.m. It took the ship two hours and forty minutes to sink.
The interior of the Titanic was inspired by the London Ritz. It had a pool, gym, Turkish bath and squash court.
With up to 4 watertight compartments breached, the Titanic could have remained afloat for three days--plenty of time to receive aid.
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This remarkable quote from Captain Smith says it all. They all succumbed to the rule of the sea.
It's absolutely true that musicians played as the ship sank. They played for two hours and five minutes.
The lifeboats were pitifully not filled to capacity. When Lifeboat 7 was launched, it had only 28 people, not the full capacity of 65.
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There were a mere 37 seconds between spotting the iceberg and the actual impact. There was truly nothing anyone could do.
The water was an unbearable 28° Fahrenheit. Some died instantly from cold shock.
It took a total of 20 horses just to carry the main anchor of the ship. Luckily, those horses didn't have to go onboard for the inaugural trip to sea.
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That iceberg was a massive 100 feet tall. That being said, much of it was concealed under the water.
The life jackets used on the Titanic--and, in fact, most personal flotation devices before 1930--were made out of cork.
Believe it or not, the SS Californian was much closer to the Titanic than the RMS Carpathia, but it responded to the call too late.
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Believe it or not, there was a lifeboat drill scheduled for the very day that the Titanic sank. For unknown reasons, the captain cancelled it.
Benjamin Guggenheim was a wealthy passenger, famous for saying this quote. He was last seen on the deck of the ship, drinking brandy with his valet.
One story from the disaster says that Charles Joughin, the ship's baker, was able to tread water for two hours. The amount of whiskey in his body prevented the cold shock.
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6 of the Titanic's watertight compartments were flooded after it struck the iceberg.
The ship was actually not filled to capacity. It could have held 1,000 or so more. There were some folks who had a ticket but just didn't sail, like Milton S. Hershey.
According to legend, this is a quote from John Jacob Astor IV. It's so darkly humorous, isn't it? Astor was the richest passenger on board.
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There was one affluent black man on board the Titanic, named Joseph Phillippe Lemercier, born in Haiti. He was on board with his wife and two young daughters. Although he managed to put the three of them on a lifeboat, he did not survive himself.
It was not until 1985 that the wreck was discovered, 12,500 feet below the water's surface. Much of the footage in the James Cameron movie is real.
Millvina Dean was only two months old when she was rescued from the Titanic. She died on May 31, 2009, at the age of 97.
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Frederick Fleet was the lookout who proclaimed, “Iceberg! Right ahead!” He actually survived the wreck and went on to fight in WWII.
The Titanic set sail to New York on May 31st, 1912. It would never return. 100,000 people were there to see the launch.
There were 885 crew members on board, and only 23 of those were female. A majority of the crew were English.
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The Alvin is a deep-ocean research submersible owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
There were apparently 20,000 bottles of beer on the Titanic, and 8,000 cigars. These were to be enjoyed by first-class passengers.
The Grand Staircase of the Titanic was seven stories, or decks, high. It contained oak paneling, paintings and bronze cherubs.
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As the investigation into the wreck continues, new details are emerging that help us understand more about the timeline. Originally, it was believed the Titanic broke apart while still above water, and a later theory proposed that it split apart while underwater. Recent evidence suggests that while some of the Titanic broke apart while underwater, it's still unclear what happened.