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Stephen J. Spignesi
Stephen J. Spignesi is the coauthor of George Washington's Leadership Lessons.
Articles & Books From Stephen J. Spignesi
Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-27-2016
On the night of April 14–15, 1912, the unthinkable happened: On its maiden voyage, the Titanic, the largest passenger ship ever built at that time, hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank. More than 1,500 of the 2,200-plus people on board were killed, including some of the wealthiest and most well-known people in the world.
Step by Step / Updated 03-27-2016
From the very beginning, even before she was launched, the Titanic was an object of fascination. At the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast where she was built, workers marveled at the size of the ship. In Southampton, England, the first stop on her maiden voyage, thousands of people came to the docks to see the largest moving object ever constructed by man.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Second- and third-class passengers on the Titanic had their own dining saloons, where they were served breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Titanic passengers received different food options based on this ticket’s class, and the second- and third-class passengers had no restaurant options, as first-class passengers did.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
The majority of the 700-plus steerage passengers on the Titanic were emigrants. Only 25 percent of the Titanic’s third-class passengers survived, and of that 25 percent, only a fraction were men. By contrast, about 97 percent of first-class women survived the sinking of the Titanic.
The term steerage originally referred to the part of the ship below-decks where the steering apparatus was located.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
The story of the Titanic’s demise is achingly dramatic and keeps audiences and readers spellbound even a century later. The Titanic disaster wasn’t the greatest maritime disaster in history, but it’s by far the most famous. Following are some reasons that the story still resonates:
The first-class passengers included some of the richest people in the world.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
The events surrounding the construction, voyage, and sinking of the Titanic — and the people involved in those events — have been a source of fascination for a century. Here are some of the key dates in the Titanic story, starting before its conception and ending with centennial celebrations in 2012.
1898
Morgan Robertson publishes a seemingly prophetic novella called
Futility (later renamed The Wreck of the Titan).
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
The famous flocked to the Titanic. With ocean travel the only way to get from continent to continent, the wealthy were drawn to the Titanic, the ship touted as the single most luxurious and greatest steamship ever built.
Colonel John Jacob Astor IV
Colonel John Jacob Astor IV, a real estate millionaire, sailed on the Titanic with his pregnant 18-year-old wife (he was 48).
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
The history of the birth of the Titanic — how she was constructed and outfitted — provides a glimpse into the history of shipbuilding, as well as the construction that ultimately failed the Titanic:
March 31, 1909: Workers for Harland and Wolff (the shipbuilding company that constructed many ships for the White Star Line) lay down the keel of the Titanic in Yard 401.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
What happened the night of April 14–15, 1912, when the Titanic sank? From the initial iceberg warnings to the wreck of the Titanic sinking to the bottom of the ocean, the night was a horrible ordeal.
Heeding iceberg warnings
Captain Edward J. Smith and the officers on the Titanic were well aware that they might encounter icebergs in the North Atlantic.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Dining as a first-class passenger on the Titanic was a lavish affair. First-class passengers on the Titanic willing to pay extra could dine in the elegant À la Carte restaurant or the Café Parisien, even though breakfast, lunch, and dinner were included in the price of a first-class ticket.
Titanic's first-class dining saloon
The enormous first-class dining saloon was located on the Saloon (D) deck next to the Reception Room (where diners sometimes paused for an aperitif before dinner).