Its 100 years since this great disaster struck. It was on 10th April 1912 that this splendid and famous cruise started her first voyage from Southampton, England to New York with more than 15oo people on board. It sailed through the Atlantic Ocean. It was its maiden voyage. The Titanic was once called "Unsinkable" by its builders. The cost of the ship was $7.5 million.It took 3 years to be built.

It was one of the three Olympic class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line. She was built between 1909–1911 by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. Her passengers included some of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as over a thousand emigrants from Great Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia. The ship was designed to be the last word in comfort and luxury, with a gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high-class restaurants and opulent cabins. On 14 April 1912, after four days of sailing and covering a distance of about 375 miles, South of Newfoundland, she hit an iceberg at 11:40 pm. Over the next two and a half hours, the ship gradually filled with water and sank. Passengers and some crew members were evacuated in lifeboats. Just before 2:20 am on 15 April 1912, Titanic broke up and sank bow-first with over a thousand people still on board.

Those in the water died within minutes from hypothermia caused by immersion in the freezing ocean. The 710 survivors were taken aboard from the lifeboats by the RMS Carpathia a few hours later.

This disaster brought about a worldwide shock. The wreck of the Titanic remains were rediscovered in 1985, from the sea bed and put on display at museums around the world. Titanic has become one of the most famous ships in history, her memory is kept alive by numerous books, films, exhibits and memorials.

The movie Titanic which was directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron in 1997 gave the viewers a glance of this tragedy. It had Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the lead role and the film won Eleven Academy awards and also received the prizes for the Best Picture and the Best Director with a worldwide gross collection of over $1.8 billion.It was the first film to reach the billion dollar mark at that time. The film is now re-released theatrically in 3-D on April 4, 2012 to commemorate the centenary of this tragedy.

So on this day I would like to pay my homage to those ill-fated people who died on this ill-fated ship by lighting a candle in their memory. So do join me.

Source of Matter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic

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