Last night, a person closely associated with the investigation into the tragedy said: ‘Interviews with those involved, both people who were directly involved with Titan and those who warned against it, have been taking place. There is serious discussion about criminal charges being brought against those responsible, including possible negligent homicide charges or manslaughter charges.’ The investigation is said to be focusing on those aboard the Polar Prince, Titan’s support vessel, and current and former OceanGate staff, as well as ‘dozens’ in the underwater exploration world who repeatedly warned Titan was ‘unsafe’.
FRANCE – JANUARY 02: Marshal Petain And Prime Minister Pierre Laval In The Park Of The Sevigne Pavillion In Vichy In 1942. Behind Them, On The Left, Dr. Bernard Menetrel Keeps Out Of Their Conversation. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images) Public Doman via Wikimedia Commons
After the German invasion of France in 1940, the Vichy state was created with Henri Pétain in charge and Pierre Laval as head of state. Laval had originally begun his political life as a pacifist but during the 1930’s shifted more towards supporting Fascism. In 1935 he sought France to align with Italy rather than make a deal with the Soviet Union (he had become anti-communist by then). By 1939 he was against war with Germany and encouraged the antiwar faction to keep the government from using troops against Germany when it invaded Poland in September 1939. After the German invasion in 1940, he helped push for an armistice and got himself into the new Vichy government.
Pétain did not care much for him and dismissed him in 1940 after he found he was negotiating with Germany on his own. He had developed a friendship with Hitler and thus by 1942 had become the real ruler of Vichy while Pétain remained as a figurehead. During the time he ran the regime, he actively collaborated with Germany in carrying out their deportation of Jews and enforcing oppressive laws on French citizens. Laval had to flee to Germany when France was liberated in August 1944. He escaped to Spain when Germany was defeated in 1945, but Franco had him expelled. He tried hiding out in Austria but ultimately surrendered to American forces. He was then sent back to France to stand trial for his actions during the German occupation. The trial was quite sensational and revealed his complicity in working with the Germans. He was convicted of treason and sentenced to death. He tried taking his own life, but he was nursed back to health so he could be executed by firing squad on 15 October 1945. Petain, revered for his leadership in World War I, was tried and found guilty of treason. He was also to be executed but French president Charles de Gaulle changed it to life imprisonment. He was sent to the island of Yeu and died there in 1951.
Hermann Goering (15 October 1946)
Hermann Goring, 6 Jan 1943 Public Domain via Wikipedia
Hermann Goering once was not only the head of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) but at one time Hitler’s designated successor. As Reichsmarschall, he held the highest military rank and answered only to Hitler. He had other titles as well (president of the Reichstag, prime minister of Prussia, chief liquidator of sequestered estates and much more). He established concentration camps to imprison enemies and was instrumental in many anti-Jewish policies such as Kristallnacht and confiscation of Jewish money and property. Known for his flamboyant outfits that showed off his decorations and his displays of stolen artwork, his only threat was from Heinrich Himmler head of the SS.
His stature began to fall when the Luftwaffe failed to deliver in the Battle of Britain, and failing to deter Allied bombings of Germany. Other German officers had a low opinion of his military strategies leading him to become depressed and more addicted to painkillers. By the end of the war, Hitler had turned away from his old comrade and dismissed him when he learned he was negotiating with the Allies. He was captured at the end of the war and was tried in Nuremburg for various crimes against humanity.
Herman Goering body, 15 Oct 1946 Public Domain
He was convicted and sentenced to be hanged. Before that could be carried out, he took a potassium cyanide capsule and died. Speculation on how he obtained the capsule is either he had managed to hide it successfully when he was initially captured, or it had been secretly delivered to him. Cyanide capsules were found on his person when he was captured. Some speculate that US Army lieutenant Jack G. Wheelis had retrieved a capsule after Goering gave him some personal effects, but it has never been substantiated. Former US Army private Herbert Lee Stivers claimed in 1945 that it was likely hidden in a fountain pen a German woman asked him to smuggle into the prison. Goering’s body was later cremated, and ashes thrown into the Isar River.
The company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic shipwreck has axed plans to retrieve more artifacts from the site days after the US Coast Guard pulled additional human remains from the doomed Titan sub. The decision was taken ‘out of respect’ for the firm’s director, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who was among the five people killed in the horror implosion earlier this year, according to court documents filed in a US District Court on Wednesday. RMS Titanic said its plans now only include imaging at the wreck site and surveys to refine ‘future artifact recovery.’
The Cox Science Center & Aquarium on Tuesday unveiled “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition,” for a preview of the exhibit that opens Thursday. The exhibit, which has drawn crowds around the world, allows visitors to play the role of passengers or crew as they travel through the history of the R.M.S Titanic and experience the more than 100 recovered items on display.
Michael Chillit, an analyst who has conducted a search into the missing MH370 flight over the past five years, also launched his own investigation into the Titan submersible. Discussing the recent finds on X (formerly Twitter) he identified a possible point of failure that led to the implosion. He wrote: “Will now be even more interesting to know if they have ever recovered any part of the observation port? There was a lot of speculation that it was the observation port that failed, but now a damaged landing frame and a fully intact rear hemisphere suggests to me that failure occurred in the composite near where it was joined to the frame and the aft hemisphere. Time will tell. Important advance.” He later clarified that the failure was “in the area where the landing frame, the hull, and the Titanium end-cap were joined.”
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Countdown to Halloween!
Here is a tune from the old Disney classic Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Released in 1949 with as part of a movie called The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, and was narrated by Bing Crosby. The short animation included Crosby some wonderful tunes. In the 1960’s, Disney released an updated version of many of its famous tunes. One of them was the song Headless Horseman that was originally sung by Bing Crosby. Using the distinctive sound of Thurl Ravenscroft, it made the song more deeper-and scarier-than what Crosby did. His distinctive voice was used all over Disney and in their parks. And this particular rendition is worth a listen. You can listen to it on YouTube.
Although these ghostly sightings and happenings can’t be proven scientifically, plenty of people are believers in the spirit world and in phenomena like glowing orbs to show something is present that can’t be explained. In addition to the wreckage of the actual Titanic, the ‘Titan’ submersible that imploded in June 2023 offers a new spin on the old tragedy, which will likely spawn new accounts of hauntings.
Despite sinking 111 years ago the Titanic continues to fascinate, with an exhibition featuring more than 200 artefacts from the doomed ocean liner coming to Melbourne. TITANIC: The Artefact Exhibition will be on display at the Melbourne Museum from December 16 after a sell-out run in Paris. The exhibit includes a section of the Titanic hull that visitors will be able to touch, as well as some of the vast collection of objects salvaged from the sea floor.
Today is Columbus Day in the United States. Celebrating Columbus began in 1792 in New York City and became an annual tradition. As a result of 11 Italian immigrants being murdered by a mob in New Orleans in 1892, President Benjamin Harrison declared Columbus Day as a one-time national celebration. This was also part of a wider effort to ease tensions and to placate Italian Americans and Italy, which had expressed official dismay at the murders. Italian Americans began using Columbus Day to not only celebrate Columbus but their heritage as well. Serious lobbying was undertaken to enshrine the holiday in states and ultimately the federal government. Colorado proclaimed it a holiday in 1905 and made it an official holiday in 1907. In 1934 after lobbying from the Knights of Columbus and New York City Italian leader Generoso Pope, Congress passed a statute requiring the president to proclaim October 12 as Columbus Day each year and asked Americans to observe it with “appropriated ceremonies” in schools, churches, and other places. However, it was a not yet a federal holiday.
The effort to make it a federal holiday began in 1966 when the National Columbus Day Committee lobbied to make it a federal holiday. This was achieved in 1968 and has been a federal holiday since then. Like most federal holidays, it is often celebrated on a Monday of the week the date it falls on. The exception being if falls on a Saturday, it would be celebrated on Friday. Columbus is recognized for his discovery of the New World. He, like many, were eager to discover the riches of Cathay, India, and Japan. Since the Ottoman Empire closed off using Egypt and the Red Sea to Europeans (land routes were closed as well), European explorers were eager to find a sea route. Columbus (and he was not the only one) held the belief that by sailing west they would be able to get to the Indies. While many educated Europeans (like Columbus) believed the Earth was round, they had no concept of how it big it really was.
Thus, they thought East Asia was closer than it was. After securing financing from the Spanish monarchy, Columbus set sail on 3 August 1492 with three ships-Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Nina–from Palos, Spain.On 12 October 1492 land was sighted. They would find Cuba later and Columbus thought it was Japan. They landed on Hispaniola in December and left a small colony behind. Returning to Spain in 1493, he was received with high honors by the Spanish court. Columbus would lead four expeditions to the New World exploring the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, and South and Central American mainland. His original goal of finding a western ocean route to Asia was never accomplished. And he likely never truly understood the full scope of what he had accomplished.
The New World–North America, the Caribbean, Central and South America–would open new opportunities for exploration and wealth. Spain would become one of the wealthiest and powerful nations on Earth as a result. Sea travel of great distances in the 15th century was quite a challenge, fraught with all kinds of uncertainty and dangers. They had to depend on the wind, current and favorable weather, and the stars. The sextant had not been invented yet, so they used a procedure called Dead Reckoning. This required the use of simple arithmetic and process to determine their location. A long rope was used, a piece of wood, an hourglass, and a compass. The navigator would record in a log book the daily speed and direction. The rope was knotted every four to six feet along its length.
Arithmetic tells us that distance traveled in a single direction can be measured by multiplying the speed with the time. You might have done some of this in grade school. A car traveling at 30 miles per hour for two hours would travel 60 miles (speed x 2). A navigator would log the speed, direction, and time in the log. In this way they could measure the distance traveled to and from where they departed from. Changes in wind speed and other things would be recorded as well. Columbus used his own version, gained from experience sailing, of determining the speed and direction to enter in his log. He could feel the keel moving through the water and with his sense of the wind, knew what the speed of his ship was. It was a remarkable and historic undertaking. Long sea voyages were often avoided because you were away for years at a time and dependent a great deal on nature to survive.
And there was the terrible specter of scurvy. Many would die on long sea voyages from this scourge, which came from the lack of vitamin c in the diet. Fresh water in kegs often wet bad after a month, so beer and spirits (often rum), was where you got water from. Fruits and vegetables would only last so long, and meat had to be cured for long term use. So food was rationed carefully. Later when it was realized that having citrus would alleviate this condition, sailors would get lime or lemon juice as part of their daily food ration. It became so common on British Royal Navy ships the sailors were called Limeys. Italians and Spanish are rightly proud of his accomplishment. Others had touched upon America (the Vikings for one) prior to Columbus but none had opened the door as he did to a new part of the world that had been undiscovered.
Like all our accomplished heroes of the past, he had his faults. In fact, not one hero you can point to doesn’t have faults. The ancient Greeks knew this and what defined a hero was someone who rose above them to do something extraordinary. The Greek hero Heracles (Hercules in Latin) had all kinds of faults but did things that rose above them. Columbus should be remembered for the courage, bravery, and fortitude to sail over the horizon to see what lay beyond. It would change the world and end the Venetian and Ottoman control of trade to the East forever. Columbus died on 20 May 1506. Gout was considered the cause of his death, but doctors today believe it was reactive arthritis.
For information about Christopher Columbus, here are some sources online to view:
Autumn Landscape Charles Rondeau (publicdomainpictures.net)
Happy Sunday everyone. Summer officially came to an end with the Autumnal Equinox back in September. Some areas, in particular in the American Northeast are seeing the fall colors in full bloom. So much so in some cases that people are traveling long distances to see them in sometimes remote locations, small towns, and often to the distress of locals their own property. A few small towns have decided to limit traffic into their areas due to the large crowds trampling about, causing delays in traffic, and since their are no toilers nearby some choose to relieve themselves in private land.
In most areas signs of Autumn and Halloween are everywhere. Houses are being decorated, pumpkins are being carved, spooky hayrides are taking places, and Haunted Houses are open. That perennial favorite-the Headless Horseman-is supposedly making appearances as well. But appearances of the next holiday season-Christmas-are also being seen. My local grocery store already has the Christmas decorations out and set up displays to merchandise for the holiday. The minute Halloween is over, those items go into the sale bin and replaced. But for the moment we can enjoy the fall even though in some places it is still hot as summer.
October Information
October is the 10th month on the Gregorian and Julian calendars. Under the old Roman calendar this was the eighth month and retained its name. October in the Northern Hemisphere begins the full transition to Autumn while in the Southern Hemisphere it is Spring.
Autumn harvests are underway this month with apples, artichokes, cranberries, pears, and pumpkins becoming widely available in many areas. Pumpkins are important this time of year as decorations and the source for pumpkin pie and delicious roasted pumpkin seeds. Oktoberfest is a major event in Munich, Germany but has spread into Europe, the United States and South America. It began in 1810 to honor a Bavarian royal wedding and now is in many places like a carnival with rides, lots of German themed food and of course beer. Beer of all kinds, especially craft beers find their ways to such events to be judged. Octoberfest usually goes from mid-September to October (it used to end on the first Sunday in October) but it usually goes on later these days. One figure estimates the consumption of beer to be around 1.85 million gallons (7 million liters) of beer. Now that is a lot of beer!
Daylight Savings Time comes to an end in Australia and Europe this month. In the United States, that will occur on the first Sunday in November. Though legislation was passed in the U.S. Senate to change to Daylight Savings Time for the entire year, the House of Representatives did not pass it due to multiple objections. So the United States will remain on using both Standard and Daylight Savings Time.
What used to be a day to prepare for the feast of All Saints Day now has morphed into an event primarily for children to put on masks and ask neighbors for a treat. Haunted House exhibits are open, hayrides through a haunted landscape, and of course scary movies to watch. We get the obligatory Halloween themed commercials and lots of scary themed promos. Many parents opt to have simpler old fashioned celebration with friends and children assembling for food, entertainment, and of course hearing very spooky stories.
Currier & Ives lithograph shows people fleeing across the Randolph Street Bridge. Thousands of people literally ran for their lives before the flames, unleashing remarkable scenes of terror and dislocation. “The whole earth, or all we saw of it, was a lurid yellowish red,” wrote one survivor. “Everywhere dust, smoke, flames, heat, thunder of falling walls, crackle of fire, hissing of water, panting of engines, shouts, braying of trumpets, roar of wind, confusion, and uproar.” Original Source: Chicago Historical Society Public Domain
On 8 October 1871, what became known as the Great Chicago Fire began and would last till 10 October. The fire began around 9 pm on October 6 possibly at a barn owned by the O’leary family or in the nearby area southwest of city center. It consumed a shed on that farm and then spread outward. Due to a period of hot, dry, and windy conditions, the fire would spread rapidly. With homes and buildings built mostly of wood, it also provided fuel for the fire as well.
The fire leapt the south branch of the Chicago River destroying central Chicago. It leapt across the main river branch and consumed the north side as well. 300 people were killed, and a large swath of the city (about 3.3 square miles) was destroyed. 100,000 people were left homeless because of the fire. After the fire help poured in from all over the country and internationally as well. Money from Great Britain helped build the Chicago Public Library that would be free to everyone.
After the great Chicago fire of 1871, corner of Dearborn and Monroe Streets Public Domain
The aftermath brought reconsideration of many things particularly in the area of building construction. Fire prevention became a big topic and construction of brick rather than wood buildings would result. With the right infrastructure in place, it would prevent such a catastrophe from happening again. Rebuilding began right away with higher standards and sometimes with buildings that were considered better than the ones that burned down
There have been many criticisms, some fair or not, about Cameron’s Titanic. So apparently the night sky was not accurate. Fair enough, coming from someone who would seem to know. I assume he set up the appropriate simulation (which can be done these days) and with all the data we have input it and then voila! You get the night sky as it should have been back in 1912. I bet James Cameron will not lose any sleep missing this important detail. Out of audience of how many-millions-and no one except the eminent Neil deGrasse Tyson, eager to sell a new book tells the world the night sky in that movie was all wrong. Well, it got some attention, which I suppose is what he wanted. I am all for being accurate and routinely disappointed when historical movies get characters and even dates wrong. Great movies like Quo Vadis, a great sword and sandal movie, is very wrong about many things (although Peter Ustinov nails Nero) but is a great movie none the less. So, I am not going to worry that the night sky in that movie was not shown as it was in 1912. Nor should anyone for that matter since the movie is historical fiction based on real events. So, pop the popcorn and enjoy the movie.
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Interesting History: The First Train Robbery in U.S. History (6 Oct 1866)
In the early days of this country, traveling was hazardous. Roads were poor, especially in winter. Near cities it was not too bad but the further out you were, it was more treacherous. Roads, such as they were, were poorly kept. And of course, thieves (tagged highway robbers, blackguards, and other notable names) loved to prey on travelers. Stealing from a train though seemed implausible to many since trains moved pretty swiftly, at least most of the time.
Now train robberies had occurred before this date but these were mainly done in freight yards or when the train was stationary sitting in a depot. So, it was a bit of a shock when the Reno Gang stopped a train in Jackson County, Indiana and made off with $13,000. They boarded the Ohio & Mississippi train at the Seymour depot and once the train was underway made their way wearing masks until entering a car owned by the Adams Express Company. The company delivered bank drafts, documents, and packages for clients. He was ordered to open the safes, but he only could access one. He opened it and they took gold coins totaling $10,000 and bank notes worth about $3,000. There was another safe they tried to open but couldn’t and tossed it off the train. They never got it open.
They signaled for the train to stop, hopped off, and disappeared into the night. The Reno Brothers were well known gang before and after the Civil War and caused lots of headaches. The gang frequently robbed post offices, homes, and murdered those who might talk about them. Their audacious robbery of a train would soon be imitated by other gangs and would become part of the lore of the old west. Trains carrying gold, cash, and other precious metal would become targets and became frequent in the 1870’s-1880’s. And they would become more deadly over time. Railroads were anxious to stop this banditry as it caused lots of bad press, angry passengers, and impacted shipping. So, they began adding armed guards to their trains along with horses in some cases so they could give chase. Bounties were made and the famous Pinkerton Agency was used to help track them down as well.
To make it more difficult to offload safes, they were made extra heavy all but making it impossible to toss them off the trains. And the people on the train may not have access to those safes for security reasons either making it useless to try and hold up the train (except to rob the passengers). While in the early days targeting trains was easy, deadly shootouts between the armed guards and gangs made it not worth trying as time went on. The Reno Brothers, an already notorious gang before and after the Civil War, added this to their roster of crimes that included robbing post offices, banks, homes, and murder. It did not end well for them. In 1868 after another successful train robbery that netted them $96,000, they were captured and held in jail pending trial. They had badly beaten an armed guard in the robbery and when he died while they were in jail, a vigilante mob was formed. They broke into the jail and took the Reno Brothers (Frank, William, and Sim) out and hung them from a tree.
Like most gangs, they had their supporters who threatened retaliation. The vigilantes-officially called the Jackson County Vigilance Committee-made it known that any retaliation would be met fiercely, which seems to have worked. While many in law enforcement wanted to bring them to trial and were not happy with this action, none of the vigilantes were identified or brought to trial for their actions. This ended one of the darker periods in southern Indiana history. The Reno Brothers Gang though would fade in memory while other gangs (such as the James Gang) would become more well known.
Warsaw, the capital of Poland, destroyed by German Nazis, January 1945. Public Domain (Wikipedia)
On 2 October 1944 the Warsaw Uprising came to an end with the surrender of surviving Polish rebels to German forces. The uprising began two months earlier when the Red Army was approaching Warsaw. The rebels supported the Polish government-in-exile and hoped to gain control of the city before the Soviets arrived. They did not want the Russians to gain the city and establish a communist regime in Poland.
While the rebels had initial gains, they were poorly supplied. Hitler sent reinforcements and the rebels and German soldiers engaged in brutal street fights. The Red Army did take a suburb of Warsaw but proceeded no further. Stalin ordered the Red Army not to assist the rebels and denied a request to use their airbases to supply the rebels. This would be remembered down the road by the Polish people. Both Churchill and Roosevelt asked for his assistance. Churchill, without Soviet approval, had supplies dropped by the RAF, the South African Air Force, and the Polish Air Force. Stalin finally relented and gave air clearance for the U.S. Army Air Force to make supply drops. However, it was too late by the time the supplies came.
Out of arms, supplies and food, there was no choice. After 63 days, they had no choice but to surrender. In retaliation for this uprising, the remaining population of Warsaw was deported. The Polish people were always meant to be eradicated as were the Jews. Plans had been drawn up before the war to turn Poland into a German colony. Warsaw was to be Germanized. Once the remaining population was deported, German destruction of Warsaw was sped up. They had started after the earlier Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Using flamethrowers and explosives, special teams went to work destroying whole neighborhoods, historical monuments, archives, and any place of interest.
By January 1945, 85% of the buildings in Warsaw were gone. Approximately 25% was done during the Warsaw Uprising. The losses are staggering to consider:
10,455 buildings
923 historical buildings (94% of these were destroyed)
25 churches
14 libraries which includes the National Library
81 schools
64 high schools
The University of Warsaw and Warsaw University of Technology
Of course, prior to these all-Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues were seized, looted and destroyed as well.
Aftermath
The Soviets took the position that the rebels did not coordinate their plans with them. Of course, the chief reason they did not aid them is that they supported the democratic Polish government-in-exile in London. And Stalin was not interested in supporting them. His goal had been before the war to allow the west to fight themselves to exhaustion allowing for the Soviet Union to expand in their direction. Those that led the uprising and members of the Home Army were persecuted by the Soviets after the war. They were arrested, tried, and deported to Soviet gulags. They had a show trial, not unlike ones during the Great Purge, where confessions were introduced to show they were actually in league with the Germans!
Warsaw Uprising Monument Source: Dhirad 2004
Fortunately, those captured by the Germans and freed by American-British forces were spared this. Stalin and his propaganda machine twisted the facts to show the failings of the Home Army and the Polish government-in-exile. All criticism of the Red Army and Soviet Union by Polish people were forbidden. All references to the Home Army were censored, all books and movies on the Warsaw Uprising were either banned or edited out the Home Army. When that did not work, they made the Home Army soldiers into heroes that were betrayed by their corrupt officers. This would remain in effect until the 1980’s with the rise of Solidarity that challenged the Soviet backed regime. It was not until 1989 that a monument was built in Poland.
In the West, stories of the heroism of the Home Army were told. They were valiant heroes fighting against the Germans. The Soviets were criticized for their non-involvement and that it helped them get rid of partisans that would have opposed them. Despite all the official censorship that existed, many Poles knew what happened and led to growing anti-Soviet sentiment that manifested into the Polish labor movement Solidarity. This peaceful movement in the 1980’s would effect change in Poland and later, as the days of the Soviet Union waned, Poland would gain back the freedom it had lost in 1939.
October is the 10th month on the Gregorian and Julian calendars. Under the old Roman calendar this was the eighth month and retained its name. October in the Northern Hemisphere begins the full transition to Autumn while in the Southern Hemisphere it is Spring.
Autumn harvests are underway this month with apples, artichokes, cranberries, pears, and pumpkins becoming widely available in many areas. Pumpkins are important this time of year as decorations and the source for pumpkin pie and delicious roasted pumpkin seeds. Octoberfest is a major event in Munich, Germany but has spread into Europe, the United States and South America. It began in 1810 to honor a Bavarian royal wedding and now is in many places like a carnival with rides, lots of German themed food and of course beer. Beer of all kinds, especially craft beers find their ways to such events to be judged. Oktoberfest usually goes from mid-September to October (it used to end on the first Sunday in October) but it usually goes on later these days. One figure estimates the consumption of beer to be around 1.85 million gallons (7 million liters) of beer. Now that is a lot of beer!
Daylight Savings Time comes to an end in Australia and Europe this month. In the United States, that will on the first Sunday in November. Though legislation was passed in the U.S. Senate to change to Daylight Savings Time for the entire year, the House of Representatives did not pass it due to multiple objections. So the United States will remain on using both Standard and Daylight Savings Time.
Of course, the big event in October is Halloween or more properly All Hallows Eve on October 31. What used to be a day to prepare for the feast of All Saints Day now has morphed into an event primarily for children to put on masks and ask neighbors for a treat. Haunted House exhibits are open, hayrides through a haunted landscape, and of course scary movies to watch. We get the obligatory Halloween themed commercials and lots of scary themed promos. Many parents opt to have simpler old fashioned celebration with friends and children assembling for food, entertainment, and of course hearing very spooky stories.
A film about the Titan incident is already in the works. It is currently titled ‘Salvaged’ and is set to be produced by E. Brian Dobbins and MindRiot Entertainment – a company also making a docuseries about Kyle Bingham, the former mission director of OceanGate. MindRiot’s Justin MacGregor and Jonathan Keasey will co-write the film. “The Titan tragedy is reminiscent of the space shuttle Challenger disaster of 1986: it’s a tragedy I’ll never forget,” said MacGregor. According to Deadline, the film will cover periods before, during, and after the five-day tragedy.
Eerie pictures have been captured inside the abandoned TSS Duke of Lancaster described as a “ghost ship frozen in time.” Only echoes remain of the vessel’s past when the 1950s cruise ship treated passengers to silver service as they sailed from Ireland, Scotland and Europe. The first-class quarters were called “the best around” during its first decade on the sea.
Maritime search-and-rescue teams should receive more psychological support for stress and mental exhaustion after shortcomings were highlighted by the deaths of five people on a submersible diving down to the wreck of the Titanic, according to documents lodged at the International Maritime Organization. The international hunt for the Titan submersible exposed limitations in search-and-rescue planning, and have prompted efforts to improve the response to potential disasters beneath the sea, according to a paper submitted by Chile.
A remarkable, historic artifact with a strong Halifax connection sold at auction over the weekend for nearly $180,000. The final price on a special key(opens in a new tab) assigned to a first class steward on the Titanic was USD $151,250. Buried in Fairview Lawn Cemetery(opens in a new tab) in Halifax, Alfred Deeble was entrusted with the key to the saloon liquor cabinet — a “Pantryman” key as it was known then. Recovered with his body after the sinking, the key was carefully catalogued in Halifax with his other possessions, and sent to his grieving sister at her request.
A unique event is being held at one of Edinburgh’s city centre hotels, with an “immersive dining experience”. The evening, which will include a three course meal and performance, is all based on the final hours onboard the Titanic. Guests can expect an “elegant and opulent” evening, with a “heartfelt tribute” to the 1503 people who lost their lives. The event is being held on September 29 and 30, and again on October 1.
Carnegie Science Center will host Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition from Oct. 21 through April 15. Visitors will experience the grandeur of the RMS Titanic through full-scale room re-creations and 154 authentic artifacts on display within the Science Center’s PPG Science Pavilion. This must-see exhibition, viewed by more than 30 million people worldwide, takes visitors on a chronological journey through life on the Titanic, with a replica boarding pass featuring a real passenger’s name, from the ship’s construction to life on board, the fated sinking, and modern-day recovery efforts.
Emails obtained by The Canadian Press show officials with Memorial’s Fisheries and Marine Institute signed an agreement with OceanGate in December allowing the company to store equipment with the university and promising that students and faculty would have opportunities “to join OceanGate expeditions to support research endeavours.” The memorandum of understanding also says the marine institute would show off OceanGate’s submersible to visitors, in an effort to promote ocean literacy and the “blue economy.”
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