All posts by Mark Taylor

Great Fires of History: The Chicago Fire of 1871 (8 October 1871)

October 8, 2024 Mark Taylor Leave a comment

[This has been edited for 2024 correcting spelling, revising sources, and adding suggested reading]

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.

Sources

“Great Chicago Fire | Cause, Deaths, & Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified October 1, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/event/Chicago-fire-of-1871.

“The Great Chicago Fire,” The Great Chicago Fire & the Web of Memory, https://greatchicagofire.org/great-chicago-fire/.

Mullen, Matt “Great Chicago Fire Begins,” HISTORY, October 4, 2023, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/great-chicago-fire-begins.

Onion, Amanda. “Chicago Fire of 1871 – Great, Map & Cause | HISTORY.” HISTORY, August 21, 2018. https://www.history.com/topics/natural-disasters-and-environment/great-chicago-fire

“Great Chicago Fire.” Wikipedia. Last modified October 6, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chicago_Fire.

Suggested Reading

Berg, Scott W. The Burning of the World: The Great Chicago Fire and the War for a City’s Soul. Pantheon, 2023.

Tribune, Chicago. Chicago Flashback: The People and Events That Shaped a City’s History. Agate Midway, 2017.

Smith, Carl. Chicago’s Great Fire. Atlantic Monthly Press, 2020.

Titanic News Channel is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

History

Interesting History: The First Train Robbery in U.S. History (6 Oct 1866)

October 6, 2024 Mark Taylor Leave a comment

Steam Trains Vintage Poster
Karen Arnold, publicdomainpibtures.net

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. The clerk 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.

First logo for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. Color version.
Circa 1850’s
Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

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.

Sources

Daley, Jason. “How The Reno Gang Launched the Era of American Train Robberies.” Smithsonian Magazine, October 6, 2016. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/reno-gang-launched-era-american-train-robberies-180960702/.

HistoryNet Staff and HistoryNet Staff, “Reno Gang’S Reign of Terror,” HistoryNet, last modified August 9, 2016, https://www.historynet.com/reno-gangs-reign-of-terror/?r.

Mullen, Matt, “The Reno Brothers Carry Out the First Train Robbery in U.S. History,” HISTORY, October 4, 2021, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-u-s-train-robbery.

“Outlaws.” https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-renogang/.

History

Remembering History: Warsaw Uprising Ends (2 Oct 1944)

October 2, 2024 Mark Taylor Leave a comment

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!

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.

Warsaw Uprising Monument
Source: Dhirad 2004

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.

Sources:

———. “Warsaw Uprising | Summary, Dates, & Monument.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified September 28, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/event/Warsaw-Uprising.

Missy Sullivan, “Warsaw Uprising Ends,” HISTORY, October 1, 2024, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/warsaw-uprising-ends.

“The Warsaw Polish Uprising.” https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-warsaw-polish-uprising.

Lester P. Gideon. “The Warsaw Uprising of 1944.” https://www.gideon1.net/uprising/.

“Chronicles of Terror.” https://www.chroniclesofterror.pl/dlibra/results?action=AdvancedSearchAction&type=-3&search_attid1=69&search_value1=Warsaw+Uprising.

Suggested Reading

Bialoszewski, Miron, A Memoir of the Warsaw Uprising (New York Review of Books, 2015).

Davies, Norman. Rising ’44: The Battle for Warsaw. Penguin Books, 2005.

Richie, Alexandra. Warsaw 1944: Hitler, Himmler, and the Warsaw Uprising. Picador, 2019.

[This was updated for 2024 correcting for grammar, punctuation, and revising source information and details.]

Miscellaneous

Welcome to October

October 1, 2024 Mark Taylor Leave a comment

Halloween Decoration in Fall
Vera Kratochvil
Publicdomainpictures.net

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.

Jack-o-lantern Pumpkins Glowing in the Dark
Petr Kratochvil, publicdomainpictures.net

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. In Ireland they used to use turnips to keep old Stingy Jack from entering their homes this time of the year. Carving them into menacing faces and with a candle near them, it would send old Stingy Jack (and any other ghost) away! When the Irish came to America, they found the pumpkin. Unlike a turnip, which is not so easy to carve, the pumpkin was much easier to use. And you could put a candle inside it was well. Soon this tradition, and many others they brought with them, would end up becoming a major Halloween icon in the United States.

October also brings with it Oktoberfest, a major event in Munich, Germany that 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!

The first full moon of October is often called Hunter’s Moon. For 2024, it will be a super moon. During October the Moon orbits closer to Earth than any other time of the year. In the years when it is a super moon, it will look bigger and brighter than usual. And near sunset, it can appear larger and more orange. It certainly is important for this time of year when, according to some beliefs, the walls separating dimensions seems to thin allowing for ghosts and other things to be seen. In Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes, it is this time of year that a traveling carnival appears looking for souls to ensnare.

Haunted House
JL Field
publicdomainpictures.net

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 and All Souls Days 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.

Titanic

Coast Guard Hearing Wraps Up (30 Sep 2024)

September 30, 2024 Mark Taylor Leave a comment

Titan (submersible)
Becky Kagan Schott, OceanGate

The Coast Guard hearing into the Titan submersible catastrophe has concluded. The hearing revealed interesting details about the company, Rush Stockton and the submersible. Testimony indicates that Rush downplayed warnings about Titan’s reliability and safety. He was confident that it was safe. However, some testimony indicated there were problems with the craft that came up when it was diving. There was refutation that the company was focused solely on tourism and Titanic and that it was focused on making the ocean accessible to everyone. We also learned that there was no formal inspection done of the craft done by the Coast Guard.

That issue concerned one former employee, Matthew McCoy, who was a Coast Guard veteran and worked as an operations technician for about six months. He was concerned that classifying people as mission specialists rather than passengers would violate Coast Guard regulations. And also, that the Coast Guard had not cleared the submersible. He would learn after he left the company, which he thought was well run, had severed ties with both Boeing and the University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory. He left the company over Stockton’s dismissal of Coast Guard investigating him and his comment he would buy off a congressman to make it go away.

Another issue the hearing looked into was the response to the emergency itself. Questions have been raised as to how slow it seemed to be to get all the necessary equipment to find Titan. Capt. Jamie Frederick, who helped lead the rescue effort, testified the biggest problem was getting the ROVs capable of diving down to Titanic. And also all the support equipment needed for it. They were able to get it together as quickly as they could but it took a “logistical tour de force.” The banging noises issue came up as well. Sounds were detected at regular intervals that some thought might be someone banging inside the submersible. However the data they studied indicates that was not the case and has been classified as an acoustic anomaly. Information about it was not revealed at the time as it was classified.

“It wasn’t for us to share with the family or with the public. It was one piece of data. It wasn’t definitive.” (Captain Jamie Frederick, U.S. Coast Guard)

One of the complications Frederick noted was conflicting information. At the time, they did not know about the slight shudder that the mast of the Polar Prince had detected just before losing contact with Titan. If they had known about that at the time, it would have changed the equation but could not answer how that would have changed the operation. Jason Neubauer, who chaired the investigation, noted that the Coast Guard is now changing how it handles whistleblower information. David Lochridge, an OceanGate employee who was fired after he raised concerns, submitted information to the Coast Guard that was not widely distributed but will be in the future.

Neubauer stated more investigative work needs to be done and more hearings may occur if warranted. He could not provide a timeline when it will wrap up its investigation and issue a report. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will issue a separate report on the implosion. If the reports indicate criminal charges be filed, then it will be turned over to the Justice Department for review and prosecution.

“Titan Hearing Reveals Malfunction Days Before Doomed Descent.” Video. NBC News, September 30, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/key-revelations-emerge-coast-guards-titan-submersible-hearing-rcna172274.

Boyle, Alan. “Eyebrow-raising Revelations Come to Light as Hearings Into Titan Sub’s Loss Wrap Up.” GeekWire, September 27, 2024. https://www.geekwire.com/2024/eyebrow-raising-revelations-come-to-light-as-hearings-into-titan-subs-loss-wrap-up/.

Liddell, James. “Titan Sub Hearings Live: Testimony Concludes as Coast Guard Hears About Build up to OceanGate Disaster.” The Independent, September 27, 2024. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/titan-oceangate-submersible-implosion-disaster-hearing-latest-b2619941.html.

Deliso, Meredith. “Submersible Expert Who Went on Early Titan Dive: ‘OceanGate Came Very, Very Close to Killing Me.’” ABC News. Last modified September 27, 2024. https://abcnews.go.com/US/oceangate-titan-coast-guard-hearing-tuesday/story?id=113961904.

Whittle, Patrick, and David Sharp. “NTSB Engineer Says Carbon Fiber Hull From Titan Submersible Showed Signs of Flaws | AP News.” AP News. Last modified September 26, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/titan-titanic-oceangate-coast-guard-hearing-implosion-f1ee1b9d4e48bf782af328590c417f03.

Morelle, Rebecca. “How Did Titan Hull Come Apart? Safety Experts Weigh In.” Last modified September 25, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g09gv4zg7o.

“Passenger on a Previous Titan Sub Dive Says His Mission Was Aborted Due to Apparent Malfunction.” Reviewonline.Com, September 20, 2024. https://www.reviewonline.com/uncategorized/2024/09/passenger-on-a-previous-titan-sub-dive-says-his-mission-was-aborted-due-to-apparent-malfunction/.

In Other News

Tylor Brummett, News Channel 3. “Titanic: The Exhibition in Chicago Showcases the Ship’s History.” WWMT. Last modified September 29, 2024. https://wwmt.com/news/local/titanic-the-exhibition-in-chicago-showcases-the-ships-history-maiden-voyage-hms-explorer.

Campbell, John. “Harland and Wolff: Titanic Shipbuilder Enters Administration.” Last modified September 27, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxgn1n08k7o.

‘TITANIC: The Artifact Exhibition’ Heads to Boston Next Month | EDGE United States.” EDGE Media Network. https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/story/335553.

Happy Sunday

September 29, 2024 Mark Taylor Leave a comment

English Autumn
George Hodan (publicdomainpictures.net)

Titanic

Titan Submersible Hearing Updates

September 24, 2024 Mark Taylor Leave a comment

The Coast Guard hearings on the Titan submersible tragedy began last week. We learned last week from a former employee of concerns about the structural integrity of the submersible. Here are more news and videos to watch about the hearings. So far, the picture of the company is not a good one.

Lepore, Stephen M. “OceanGate Co-founder Reveals Truth About Sub Disaster That Killed Five.” Mail Online. Last modified September 24, 2024. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13884119/OceanGate-founder-reveals-sad-truth-Titan-sub-disaster-killed-five-excursion-Titanic.html.

The man who co-founded OceanGate with Stockton Rush has revealed the answers to what really went wrong on the Titanic excursion may never be known. Guillermo Sohnlein told a Coast Guard panel Monday that he can’t say what exactly led to the submersible implosion in June 2023 that killed five people. “I don’t know what happened. I don’t know who made what decision when and based on what information,’ he said. ‘And honestly, I don’t know if any of us will ever know this, despite all of your team’s investigative efforts.’ Sohnlein could only say that the incident, which claimed the lives of adventurer Hamish Harding, father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood and Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet, ‘was not supposed to happen.’

Key points

Testified that OceanGate was planning on building 8 such submersibles and would not use a mothership to cut costs.
Contradicted testimony of former employee David Lochridge, who alleged OceanGate was all about profit. Said company was not driven by the idea of tourism or Titanic, which had already been explored.
Said Rush Stockton, who died in the implosion, was confident in the submersible.
Coast Guard released a 2018 redacted transcript between Stockton and Lochridge. Stockton insists he listened to his criticisms and that Lochridge was unhappy with the results. Stockton insisted the submersible was safe.

6abc Philadelphia. “Footage Shows ROV Trying to Salvage Titan Submersible Wreckage.” Video. YouTube, September 23, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-RC9HZPlGM.

ROV trying to salvage Titan submersible wreckage
YouTube Screen Capture 24 Sep 2024

The Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) releases remotely operated vehicle footage of the Titan submersible’s salvage from June 26, 2023, for the Titan MBI hearing in North Charleston, South Carolina, Sept. 23, 2024. As part of the investigation, the wreckage was recovered and transported to a secure facility for detailed analysis. (Video courtesy of Pelagic Research Services)

“Titan Company Co-founder Says Goal Was to Create Fleet of Subs, ‘Give Humanity Greater Access to the Ocean.’” CBS News. Last modified September 23, 2024. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/titan-sub-oceangate-cofounder-goal-fleet-submersibles-guillermo-sohnlein/.

Businessman Guillermo Sohnlein, who helped found OceanGate with Stockton Rush, said the original vision was to create a fleet of four or five deep-diving submersibles capable of carrying five people to 6,500 yards deep. The plan for the company was to have no dedicated mothership.

“We wanted to give humanity greater access to the ocean, specifically the deep ocean,” Sohnlein said. Sohnlein ultimately left the company before the Titan disaster in June 2023. Rush was among the five people who died when the submersible imploded. Though Sohnlein left the Washington company years ago, he defended its efforts in the aftermath of the submersible’s implosion.

Coast Guard Standard (not the same as used for law enforcement)
1964.
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Sanchez, Ray, and Graham Hurley. “A Haunting Final Message and Other Takeaways From the Coast Guard Inquiry Into the Titan Submersible Implosion.” CNN, September 22, 2024. https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/22/us/titan-submersible-hearing-takeaways/index.html.

More than a year after the Titan submersible imploded, killing all five voyagers on board, the story of the ill-fated expedition to the Titanic has taken the form of a modern-day Greek tragedy overflowing with mortal pride and heedlessness. Testimony during the first week of a hearing by a US Coast Guard panel probing the disaster has painted a damning portrait of the Washington-based company that developed and operated the 23,000-pound submersible as well as its founder – who charged deep-pocketed passengers about $250,000 per dive. “What this really comes down to is hubris and greed,” Peter Girguis, a Harvard University professor and oceanographer who has been monitoring the hearing, told CNN. “It’s both tragic and ironic that this example of hubris occurred within a few 100 meters or yards of another example of hubris, which is the Titanic,” he added, referring to another infamous maritime disaster involving what was the largest passenger ship in service and considered “unsinkable” when it struck an iceberg in 1912.

The Titan appeared to be off course on its way to the Titanic, so the crew decided to use thrusters so the submersible could make its way to the wreck, Hagen said. The starboard thruster failed to activate, he said. “We realized that all it could do was spin around in circles, making right turns,” Hagen said. “At this juncture, we obviously weren’t going to be able to navigate to the Titanic.” Hagen said the Titan dropped weights, resurfaced and the mission was scrapped. He said he was aware of the potentially unsafe nature of getting in the experimental submersible. “Anyone that wanted to go was either delusional if they didn’t think that it was dangerous, or they were embracing the risk,” he said.

WFAA. “VIDEO: OceanGate Titan Submersible Hull Wreckage Found at Bottom of the Ocean.” Video. YouTube, September 18, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSJek-AKNMM.

The U.S. Coast Guard released new footage of the doomed OceanGate Titan submersible’s hull filmed via a remotely operated vehicle at the bottom of the ocean.

Disclaimer: The following videos are here for informational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed in the videos are solely from their creators and not from Titanic News Channel.

History

Lewis & Clark Return From Epic Expedition (23 Sep 1806)

September 23, 2024 Mark Taylor Leave a comment

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
Public Domain (Wikipedia)

On 23 September 1806, and amid much public excitement, the expedition of William Clark and Meriweather Lewis returned to St. Louis, Missouri. They were the first to record an overland journey from the Mississippi River to the Pacific coast and back. They had set out two years ago and came back with a wealth of knowledge about the territory of the newly purchased Louisiana Purchase. Under President Jefferson, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory in 1803 for a price of 3 cents per acre for some 828,000 square miles of land. It is considered one of the best land deals ever. Jefferson commissioned the expedition of Lewis and Clarke to explore this territory and report back what they found.

The expedition left in May 1804 with about four dozen men and equipment. Traveling up the Missouri River in six canoes and two longboats they would winter in Dakota before crossing into Montana where they saw the Rocky Mountains for the first time. They would meet the Shoshone Indians on the other side of the Continental Divide, who would sell them horses. The journeyed through the Bitterroot Mountains, down the rapids of the Clearwater and Snake rivers, until they reached the Columbia River and to the sea. They arrived at the Pacific Ocean on 8 November 1805 and were the first European explorers to do this overland from the east.

They paused for the winter and then made their journey back to St. Louis in the spring. The journals that were kept noted longitude and latitude with detailed notes on soil, climate, animals, plants, and native peoples. They identified new plants and animals (the grizzly bear for one). They also named geographic locations after themselves, loved ones, friends and even their dog. They experienced a variety of diseases and injuries during their journey but only one person perished. Their expedition is considered one of the most consequential and remarkable in U.S. history. Their travels in Oregon would lead the U.S. to able claim territorial rights later.

Sources

Buckley, Jay H. “Lewis and Clark Expedition | Summary, History, Members, Facts, & Map.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified July 31, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/event/Lewis-and-Clark-Expedition.

———. “Lewis and Clark Return to St. Louis.” HISTORY, September 21, 2020. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lewis-and-clark-return.

———. “Louisiana Purchase | Definition, Date, Cost, History, Map, States, Significance, & Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified July 30, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/event/Louisiana-Purchase.

Miscellaneous

Autumn Equinox Today (22 Sep 2024)

September 22, 2024 Mark Taylor Leave a comment

There are two equinoxes in the year, Autumn (September) and Spring (March). When these equinoxes occur the sun is directly on the equator, and the length of day and night is almost equal. In the Northern hemisphere, the September Equinox heralds autumn but the opposite below the equator where it heralds the beginning of spring. Go here to see the time it begins in your area.

For those of us in the North, it means a transition from summer to winter. During this period days start getting shorter and nights longer. Depending on where you live, you will likely have moderate warm days followed by long and cooler nights. Harvests of many crops often take place during the fall and in the old days you would make preparations to store food for the winter. Harvest festivals are very popular and in particular Halloween. Pumpkins begin appearing along with all kinds of Halloween decor culminating, of course, in All Hallows Eve (Halloween) on October 31.

Photo:David Wagner(publicdomainpictures.net)

Shop for all things Halloween at the Halloween Store

Titanic

Titanic Shipbuilder Insolvent; Put into Administration

September 17, 2024 Mark Taylor Leave a comment

Harland & Wolff David and Goliath crane in Belfast, 2006
Plastic Jesus (Dave) via Wikimedia Commons

The 163-year-old shipbuilder known for building Titanic has declared itself insolvent and put into administration. This is the second time in two years it has done this. The company’s board of directors said in a statement that there is a credible path forward for the company. Teneo, which handles administration under such circumstances, will take over the day-to-day operations of the company during this period. All non-core operations were already in the process of being shut down and employees in those areas are expected to lose their jobs. One marine services business is being sold, so it’s employees may retain their jobs.

The shipyards will remain open during this time and contracts it has will continue to be fulfilled. Of concern is a UK Royal Navy contract. A government spokesman said the government was concerned but has been told no jobs at the shipyard or core operations are at stake. Navantia, the Spanish state-owned shipbuilder, has expressed interest. Navantia is a partner in the program to build the Royal Navy vessels in which Harland & Wolff is a subcontractor. The UK defense contractor Babcock International is also interested as well. Creditors will be the first to get any payments required under any contracts they have with the company. Shareholders in the publicly traded company (trading in the stock was stopped a while back) will lose their investment.

Sources:

Campbell, John. “Titanic Shipyard to Go Into Administration.” Last modified September 16, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crkddrv7v2po.

Ziaddy, Hanna. “The 163-year-old Company That Built the Titanic Says It Is Insolvent.” CNN, September 16, 2024. https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/16/business/harland-wolff-titanic-shipbuilder-insolvent/index.html.

In other Titanic News

Rissman, Kelly. “Titan Sub Hearing Live Updates: Former OceanGate Employee Admits He Had ‘No Confidence’ in Ship’s Design.” The Independent, September 17, 2024. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/titan-sub-submersible-last-message-bodies-implosion-hearing-b2614007.html.

David Lochridge, the former director of marine operations who worked at the company from 2015 to 2018, told the panel about the “red flags” he witnessed, including co-founder Stockton Rush’s desire to qualify a pilot in one day — typically a lengthy process. He also painted a picture of Rush’s personality. He walked through a harrowing incident when Rush’s bungled dive to the Andrea Doria wreckage site ended in Rush throwing a “PlayStation controller” at Lochridge’s head. Lochridge issued an inspection report in January 2018 detailing his laundry list of concerns with an early version of the Titan. He was fired not long after.

Rissman, Kelly. “Final Messages Revealed From the Titan Sub Before Tragic Implosion.” The Independent, September 17, 2024. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/titan-submersible-last-words-final-message-coast-guard-b2614008.html.

“All good here.” Those were some of the final words that the doomed Titan submersible crew communicated before the submersible imploded on its mission to the Titanic wreckage site in June 2023. The message, revealed as part of the Coast Guard’s Monday hearing into the circumstances of the failed mission, was sent to support vessel Polar Prince on June 18, 2023, shortly before the submersible imploded, killing all five of its crew members. It was an incident that captivated both sides of the Atlantic as crews made a mad dash to save the crew after the sub lost contact with the surface – with the world unaware that the lives had been lost.

Associated Press. “Titanic Troubles: Engineer Says He Felt Pressured to Get Submersible Ready.” Boston Herald, September 16, 2024. https://www.bostonherald.com/2024/09/16/titanic-troubles-engineer-says-he-felt-pressured-to-get-submersible-ready/.

The lead engineer for an experimental submersible that imploded en route to the wreck of the Titanic testified Monday that he felt pressured to get the vessel ready to dive and refused to pilot it for a journey several years earlier. “‘I’m not getting in it,’” Tony Nissen said he told Stockton Rush, co-founder of the OceanGate company that owned the Titan submersible.

Titanic, historic ship, and general history news.