Owned by the White Star Line, the RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner meant to ply the busy Atlantic route between North America and Europe. Built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, the ship was one of the largest moving objects ever made. It was nearly 882ft long and could hold more than 2,200 passengers and crew. The Titanic was promoted as a luxurious, modern vessel with grand public rooms, electric elevators, a swimming pool, squash court and the latest engineering features that embodied the ambitions of the early twentieth century.

The Titanic embarked on its maiden voyage on April 10, 1912. It left Southampton, England, and called at Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown, Ireland (now called Cobh), before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to New York City. On board were some of the world’s richest travelers, emigrants seeking a new life in America, engineers, musicians, officers and crew members who operated the ship. This collection of passengers made Titanic a remarkable snapshot of the social world of its time.

April 14, 1912 – The night the Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic. The impact damaged the starboard side of the vessel, below the waterline. Seawater flooded several watertight compartments, and the ship's design couldn't keep it afloat once too many compartments were flooded.  It was clearly beyond midnight before the Titanic would founder. They launched lifeboats, but there were not enough for all on board. Lifeboat rules at the time were based on tonnage, not the total number of people on a ship, and many lifeboats left only partially full during the evacuation.

In the early hours of April 15 Titanic broke in half and sank. It was one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history, claiming more than 1,500 lives. The RMS Carpathia arrived hours later and picked up over 700 survivors from the lifeboats. The news of the disaster spread quickly, causing grief and shock and sparking an international investigation. Newspapers across the world gave the tragedy extensive coverage and the names and stories of the passengers soon entered a much wider public memory.

The sinking of the Titanic had its consequences. Official enquiries in Britain and the United States looked into the causes of the disaster and found fault with shortcomings in speed, communication, use of the lifeboats and safety preparation. In response, maritime rules were tightened up. All ships should have enough lifeboats for everyone on board, improve radio watch procedures and improve iceberg patrol in the North Atlantic.

In 1985, Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel led an expedition that found Titanic on the ocean floor. The wreck sits about 12,500 feet below the surface. Since then the ship has been the subject of historical study and public fascination. Its story remains a symbol of both human achievement and the tragic cost of overconfidence in the face of nature. Today, museums, books, documentaries and memorials across the globe help to preserve its history for future generations.