In 1912, one of the biggest tragedies in the history of the world occurred, the sinking of the RMS Titanic. James Cameron did a brilliant adaptation which won so many awards.
Below are 18 fascinating facts about titanic
1. The RMS Titanic was the world’s largest passenger ship when it entered service, measuring 269 metres (882 feet) in length, and the largest man-made moving object on Earth.
2. There were 20,000 bottles of beer on board, 1,500 bottles of wine and 8,000 cigars – all for the use of first-class passengers.
3. 100,000 people turned up to see the ship’s launch on May 31, 1911.
4. Kate Winslet refused to wear a wetsuit while filming the iconic water scene from the film. But staying in water for such prolonged periods of time made her fall sick with pneumonia.
5. Milton Hershey, the founder of Hersheys chocolates was supposed to be on board in Titanic. But fortunately, he cancelled his reservation at the end moment!
6. John Jacob Astor IV was the richest passenger on board, with a net worth of around $85m (approximately $2bn today), and went down with the ship.
7. The last remaining survivor of the disaster, Millvina Dean, died on May 31, 2009, aged 97. She was two months old at the time.
8. 26 of those on board the Titanic were honeymooning couples.
9. The chief baker of the Titanic had consumed a lot of alcohol the same night the ship sank. As a result, his body was warm enough to keep him alive in the cold for 2 hours till he was rescued.
10. Of the 1514 people who died, only 336 bodies were found.
11. Titanic, the ship, was actually constructed for $7.5 million, which would approximately be equivalent to $150 million in 1997. The film, Titanic, shot in 1997, cost more than $200 million!
12. Matthew McConaughey was the production studio’s first choice to play the lead but director James Cameron insisted that they sign Leonardo DiCaprio instead. The rest, as they say, is history!
13. The iceberg was spotted at 11.40pm on April 14, 1912, by lookout Frederick Fleet. was around 100 feet tall and came from a glacier in Greenland and Just 37 seconds elapsed between the sighting of the iceberg and the collision.
14. First Officer William McMaster Murdoch ordered the ship to turn, but it was too large to do so in time. It has been suggested that the ship would not have sunk if it hit the iceberg head-on.
15. Musicians played for two hours and five minutes as the ship sank and none of them survived.
16. The wreck of the Titanic was discovered in 1985 and lies 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, around 12,500 feet below the surface.
17. The main theme song of the movie, Titanic – My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion – was the biggest selling single of 1998.
18. A film based on the sinking of Titanic called ‘Saved From The Titanic’ was released just 29 days after the disaster. It featured Dorothy Gibson, one of the survivors. She wore the same dress on the sets of the film that she did on that unfateful day the Titanic sank. Reliving those moments affected Dorothy’s health so adversely, she had a mental breakdown.
Phil