1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:03,160 Speaker 1: The Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:08,640 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to this Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:11,640 Speaker 1: show that pays tribute to people of the past by 4 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:16,599 Speaker 1: telling their stories. Today, I'm Gay Blusier, and in this episode, 5 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,600 Speaker 1: we're talking about the tragic fate and enduring legacy of 6 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: the infamous Titanic. The day was April tenth, nineteen twelve. 7 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:37,880 Speaker 1: The RMS Titanic departed from Southampton on its doomed maiden 8 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: voyage to New York. Passengers began boarding at nine thirty am, 9 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: and the ships set sail from White Star Dock a 10 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 1: little under three hours later. The voyage began forebodingly enough, 11 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: with a near collision right there in the harbor. The 12 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: Titanic displaced a massive amount of water when it's set 13 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: out from the dock, so much, in fact, that the 14 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: resulting wave broke another ocean liner free from its moorings 15 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:10,040 Speaker 1: and scented careening straight toward the Titanic. Luckily, a nearby 16 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: tug boat was able to pull the ship out of 17 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: the way in time, allowing the newly launched Titanic to 18 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 1: continue with only a brief delay. Later that evening, it 19 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: stopped at Cherbour, France to pick up additional passengers and cargo. 20 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: Then the ocean liner continued on to Queenstown, Ireland, and 21 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,200 Speaker 1: shortly after eight pm that night it sailed out into 22 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: the Atlantic to begin the main leg of its ill 23 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: fated journey. You don't need me to tell you that 24 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:42,680 Speaker 1: the Titanic never reached its destination. It struck an iceberg 25 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: just before midnight on April fourteenth and sank beneath the 26 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: surface of the water less than three hours later, taking 27 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: with it the lives of more than fifteen hundred passengers 28 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: and crew. When it happened, people around the world were 29 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: captivated by the tragedy of the Titanic, and over a 30 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: century later, many of us still are in fact on 31 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 1: the disasters. One hundredth anniversary, Smithsonian reported that Titanic was 32 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 1: the third most recognized word in the world, right behind 33 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: God and Coca cola. Interest in the story has waxed 34 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,799 Speaker 1: and waned over time, but it remains one that we 35 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: always seem to come back to. One of the main 36 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 1: reasons people have stayed so invested in the Titanic is 37 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: the ship itself. Most of us know that at the 38 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: time it was the largest ocean liner ever constructed, and 39 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: more broadly, the largest man made moving object in the world. 40 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:41,240 Speaker 1: At around eight hundred and eighty feet long and one 41 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: hundred and seventy four feet tall including the smokestacks, the 42 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: ship was as long as three American football fields and 43 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,919 Speaker 1: as tall as the seventeen story building. It also had 44 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,359 Speaker 1: many unique features that added to that sense of grandeur 45 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,680 Speaker 1: and luxury. For example, Titanic was one of the first 46 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: ships to have electrics in all the rooms. It also 47 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: had way more amenities than most other ships, including four elevators, 48 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: a heated swimming pool, two libraries, two barber shops, a 49 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: squash court, a Turkish bath, and even its own onboard newspaper. 50 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: Of course, we now have cruise ships that are over 51 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:23,239 Speaker 1: four times larger and loaded with even more impressive features, 52 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: but the scale of the Titanic has remained notable regardless, 53 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: largely because of the perception that its size was somehow 54 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,240 Speaker 1: tempting fate. The fact that the largest ship in the 55 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: world sank on its maiden voyage has led many people 56 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: to treat it as a cautionary tale about mankind's hubris. 57 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: That interpretation is often supported by the famous boast that 58 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: the ship was considered unsinkable. People often point to the 59 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:53,120 Speaker 1: Titanic's lifeboat shortage as evidence of the excessive pride of 60 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: its operators. One story you'll often hear is that the 61 00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: ship could have easily carried twice the amount of life 62 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,680 Speaker 1: boats it had, only the designers didn't want to ruin 63 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 1: the view by cluttering the deck with more boats. That 64 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: may be true, but it's worth noting that Titanic was 65 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: completely up to code when it came to lifeboats. In fact, 66 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:17,600 Speaker 1: it was actually better stocked than it technically had to be. 67 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 1: Instead of having sixteen lifeboats as the Board of Trade required, 68 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:26,159 Speaker 1: the ship actually had twenty. That still wasn't enough to 69 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:30,240 Speaker 1: accommodate all the Titanic's passengers, but that's because at the time, 70 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: the number of passengers wasn't a factor at all. Instead, 71 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: the amount of lifeboats required was based solely on a 72 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: ship's weight, So whether a ship the size of Titanic 73 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,480 Speaker 1: was sailing half full or completely empty, it would have 74 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: still been required to carry just sixteen lifeboats. The good 75 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:52,279 Speaker 1: news is that Titanic proved just how little sense that 76 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,479 Speaker 1: practice made, and thanks to all the public scrutiny and 77 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: Senate inquiries that followed. In the wake of the disaster, 78 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:02,400 Speaker 1: regulations changed and the number of lifeboats started to be 79 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: determined by the total number of people on board. There 80 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: were actually several other positive changes that emerged from the 81 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: tragedy of Titanic. For example, maritime agencies began using round 82 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: the clock wireless monitoring to keep track of ships and 83 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: to make sure fewer distress calls went overlooked. That change 84 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: made a huge difference during World War One, when large 85 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 1: ships were frequent targets for enemy torpedoes. In fact, the 86 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: very ship that rescued the Titanic survivors, the RMS Carpathia, 87 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: was sunk just six years later by a torpedo fired 88 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: from a German U boat. However, thanks to the lessons 89 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:45,080 Speaker 1: from Titanic, the Carpathia had plenty of lifeboats and a 90 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: direct line to call for help. As a result, not 91 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,720 Speaker 1: a single crew member or a passenger aboard the Carpathia 92 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:55,719 Speaker 1: was drowned. The wreck of Titanic was finally located in 93 00:05:55,839 --> 00:06:00,159 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty five by oceanographer Robert Ballard. Most of the 94 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,919 Speaker 1: ship had settled more than twelve thousand feet below sea level, 95 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,159 Speaker 1: just over three hundred and fifty nautical miles off the 96 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Ballard refused to divulge the ship's 97 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,839 Speaker 1: exact location at the time for fear that treasure hunters 98 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 1: and corporations would swoop in to exploit it, an act 99 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 1: that he considered tantamount to grave robbing. Of course, the 100 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: coordinates eventually leaked out anyway, and now nearly two hundred 101 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:30,280 Speaker 1: people have visited the shipwreck in person. Altogether, those visitors 102 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 1: have extracted some five thousand artifacts, further damaging the ship 103 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,160 Speaker 1: in the process. It's a bit unsettling to see the 104 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:41,720 Speaker 1: final resting place of so many people picked apart like that. 105 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: But fortunately the wreckage of the Titanic is now under 106 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 1: the protection of UNESCO and as an underwater cultural Heritage site, 107 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:53,839 Speaker 1: any kind of invasive excavation is now off limits. That said, 108 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: the reality is that Titanic won't be around much longer 109 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: either way. Mollusks have made short work of the ship's 110 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: would and of course any human remains were consumed by 111 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,040 Speaker 1: marine life long ago. The rest of the ship isn't 112 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: long for this world either. As we speak, bacteria is 113 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: slowly devouring the ship's iron hull, and as those microbes 114 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: munch away, they form icicle like communities called rusticles. That's 115 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: happening all over the ship, inside and out, and as 116 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 1: the rusticles get heavier and heavier, they'll pull the whole 117 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: thing apart, piece by piece. At this point, most researchers 118 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 1: estimate it'll just be another decade or two until the 119 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: Titanic is gone completely. When that happens, it'll really be 120 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: the end of an era. Though of course, with all 121 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 1: the memorials and biographies and movies, we'll still have plenty 122 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:50,680 Speaker 1: to remember Titanic and its passengers by. And speaking of remembrances, 123 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: Robert Ballard gave a touching one shortly after he found 124 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 1: the shipwreck. It works well as a kind of eulogy, 125 00:07:57,080 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: both for the ship and for the event as a whole, 126 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 1: he said. Quote. The Titanic lies now in thirteen thousand 127 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: feet of water on a gently sloping alpine looking countryside, 128 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:13,720 Speaker 1: overlooking a small canyon below. Its bow faces north. The 129 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: ship sits upright on its bottom, with its mighty stacks 130 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: pointed upward. There is no light at this great depth, 131 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:23,720 Speaker 1: and little life can be found. It is a quiet 132 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: and peaceful place and a fitting place for the remains 133 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 1: of this greatest of c tragedies to rest forever. May 134 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:34,960 Speaker 1: it remain that way, and may God bless these now 135 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 1: found souls. I'm Gabelusier and hopefully you now know a 136 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: little more about history today than you did yesterday. You 137 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:49,840 Speaker 1: can learn even more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, 138 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 1: and Instagram at TEDI HC Show, and if you have 139 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 1: any comments or suggestions, feel free to send them my 140 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: way by writing to this day at iHeartMedia dot com. 141 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,960 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays and Ben Hackett for producing the show, 142 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:06,439 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here 143 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another day in History class.