One of the most harrowing and tragic events of the 20th century was the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912.  The British passenger vessel had taken off on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. It was a luxury liner with plenty of amenities to enjoy for those who took the long ride. This year marks the 111th anniversary of the ship's submerging into the Atlantic Ocean to depths of 2.4 miles below the surface.

The Titanic originally set sail from Belfast, Ireland, on April 2 and arrived on April 10 at Southhampton Port in the UK. It should have taken 7 days to arrive in Manhattan. 

Many of the passengers were the elite. One of the passengers was John Jacob Astor IV, the richest businessman in the world at the time. He undoubtedly felt right at home in the first-class section, which featured opulent dining rooms and marble floors. The ship also had second and third-class tiers. By today's standards, the price for the top ticket would be around $61,000.

Over 2,200 passengers and crew were on the Titanic on the final leg of the trip. At the time, the ship was the largest passenger boat afloat, weighing 46,328 tons with a length of 882 feet, 9 inches. For reference, the liner was as long as 3 Statues of Liberty linked together and one-third as wide as a modern aircraft carrier. Its top speed was 23 knots which is equal to 26.46 miles an hour. 

The demise of the Titanic came with it hitting a huge iceberg only about 4 miles offshore of Cape Race, Newfoundland. After the jarring collision with the 400-foot-long iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, the ship continued to float for 2 hours and 40 minutes--but finally, at 2:20 a.m. on the morning of April 15, the heavily damaged vessel sank. Over 1500 people died in the accident. There were 705 survivors. 

Criticism was targeted at Captain Edward John Smith, a British mariner, for driving the ship at 20.5 knots (23.6 MPH). The Titanic had been billed as 'unsinkable.' Not too long ago, a 20-ton piece of the ship was retrieved.

There is plenty of other evidence the ship sank--including the testimony of survivors--which led me to scratch my head when I read an article that said the ship's demise was just another conspiracy theory. 

TikTok recently released a viral video by a woman named Mia, who claims that the ship that went down was the Olympic, built by the same shipbuilder as the Titanic. Her theory is the Olympic was a ship that needed more repairs, and that's why the public was misled about the fate of the real Titanic. Some people are buying Mia's theory. The video gleaned 11 million views. It has been deleted-- but I still believe that the Titanic did sink and remains one of the worst disasters in maritime history.