Today In History: April 15 1912

The Titanic sinks

On this date, the luxurious ocean liner R.M.S. Titanic sank just two hours after colliding with an iceberg in the North Atlantic. When it had previously left the port of Southampton, England, behind the Titanic had just managed to escape a collision with the moored liners SS City of New York and Oceanic. The ship, carrying 2,200 passengers and crew, was considered the most luxurious and «unsinkable» ship ever built. However, shortly before midnight on April 14, 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg to a 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland. Barely two hours later, in the early hours of April 15, the ship sank. The ship was not ready for such an emergency, and 1513 people of the 2224 travelling died aboard drowning or frozen in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Most of the 700 survivors were women and children.