The RMS Titanic began its maiden voyage on April 10, 1912. It departed from Southampton, England, with 2,224 people on board. The destination was New York City. Some of the people on board were emigrating. Others were wealthy people on a pleasure cruise. The Titanic was nicknamed “the Ship of Dreams.”

Four days into her journey, at 11:40 pm, the Titanic hit an iceberg. This happened in the Atlantic Ocean, south of Newfoundland, Canada. Boaters in the area had warned Captain Smith of drifting ice, but he ignored the warnings. Like most of the passengers, the captain viewed the ship as unsinkable. When he tried to steer around the iceberg, it was too late.

The Titanic began taking on water immediately. Some passengers prepared to escape on lifeboats, but there weren’t enough rafts. Due to the “women and children first” protocol, many families were split up. The evacuation was chaotic, and lifeboats were launched half-full.

Two-and-a-half hours after hitting the iceberg, the ship split apart and sank. The water was freezing, and most who fell in died quickly of hypothermia. No ships were close enough to help with a rescue. At 4:00 am on April 15, the RMS Carpathia finally arrived. Seven hundred and ten survivors were rescued.

The wreck of the Titanic has inspired many books and movies. In 1997, the blockbuster film Titanic was released. Filmmaker James Cameron conducted research by diving down to the actual wreckage. While much of the film is based on truth, the love story between Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) is fictional. Cameron’s Titanic was the first film to gross one billion dollars. In 2012, the film was rereleased in 3D for the 100th anniversary of the historic shipwreck.