Today on this date back in 1912, at exactly 11:40 P.M., the "unsinkable" Titanic hit an iceberg, and in less than 3 hours, sank, taking 1,500 souls with it. The captain was warned there were icebergs in the area, but he and company executives were hoping to set a new speed record on the ship's maiden voyage, and so they plowed full speed ahead anyway. Since the ship was considered unsinkable, the crew had not been adequately trained on how to handle an evacuation, and since the officers did not know how many people could safely be put aboard the lifeboats, many left the ship barely occupied. Not only that, but Titanic had only enough lifeboats to carry half the passengers on board. I am not sure where I found the photograph on the left, but it appears to show passengers waiting to board the vessel, oblivious to their fate. On the 100th anniversary of the disaster, I bought one of those Time Life special editions on the sinking, and it featured photographs taken by a divinity student who was also an amateur photographer. He was gifted a ticket on the Titanic by his uncle to travel from Southhampton to Queenstown (Cobh), in Ireland, the ship's final stop before heading across the Atlantic. While on board, he met someone who offered to pay his passage to New York, but when he called his school to get permission, they refused to allow him to go. Which is why he and his photographs survived. Talk about a lucky break. Just recently, by the way, an Australian billionaire announced that after many delays, he is ready to build an exact replica of the Titanic that will carry passengers. Talk about tempting fate. Intelligence and money don't necessarily go together. After all, look at Donald Trump.
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