100th Anniversary Of The Great Titanic Sinking

Certainly history classes cover a wide range of lessons – some with happy endings and some with sad one. This month, we remember an historical event of one hundred years ago. It's the sinking of the Titanic ocean liner.

On April 15, the ship sunk in the Atlantic when it struck an iceberg carrying passengers and a crew from Southampton England bound for New York City. It's considered one of the deadliest maritime disasters in history, killing more than 1,500 people.

Because of this tragedy, safety regulations resulted to make ships safer. The law was re-written so that ships must have enough lifeboats to carry everyone on board in case of an emergency. The Titanic had only 20 lifeboats and should have had 64.

Another safety rule was rewritten as a result of the Titanic. It's distress calls weren't heard by nearby ships because the wireless operators were already asleep for the evening. Since then, it's required that all ships staff their radios 24 hours. It's believed that a ship could've reached the Titanic in time to save more lives if its radios had been staffed.

To learn more about the Titanic, visit the Henry Ford where an updated, interactive exhibit is on display through September 30.

Content provided by Oakland University.