RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner owned by the White Star Line, built to service the busy North Atlantic trade between Europe and North America. It was constructed by Harland and Wolff in Belfast and was one of the largest moving objects on Earth when completed. Measuring 882.5 feet (269 meters) in length, it could carry over 2,200 people including passengers and crew. Titanic was built to be a luxurious modern ship with large public rooms, electric lifts, a swimming bath, squash court, and a variety of advanced engineering systems, in keeping with the ambition of the early 20th century.

Titanic set sail on its maiden voyage on April 10, 1912. It departed from Southampton, England, made stops in Cherbourg, France and Queenstown (now Cobh) in Ireland, before making its way across the North Atlantic to New York City. Onboard were some of the world's wealthiest individuals, as well as emigrants destined for new lives in America, alongside engineers, musicians, officers and crew charged with operating the vessel. Passengers ranged across social classes and represented a microcosm of society in the early 20th century.

Late on the night of April 14, 1912, Titanic struck an iceberg on its port side in the North Atlantic Ocean. It ruptured below the waterline, flooding 5 of its 16 watertight compartments; it had been designed not to sink as long as no more than 4 compartments were breached. Soon after midnight it was clear the ship was sinking and the lifeboats were lowered; tragically there were not enough for all the passengers and crew. Lifeboat laws at the time were based on tonnage rather than passenger numbers and many lifeboats were launched in only partially filled states.

In the early hours of April 15, 1912, the Titanic broke apart and sank. More than 1,500 people lost their lives, making the event the largest peacetime maritime disaster. A total of 705 survivors were rescued by RMS Carpathia hours later. The news of the sinking spread across the globe and prompted international outrage and an investigation into the accident. Newspapers carried the story with shock, and the identities and stories of passengers quickly entered public consciousness.

The disaster led to a new maritime convention to improve safety. An official inquiry was held by both British and American investigators and criticisms were made about excessive speed, poor radio communication, insufficient lifeboats, and a failure to take sufficient safety precautions. Subsequently, the number of lifeboats required on a ship increased, radio watch protocols were updated, and plans were drawn up for ice patrols to be sent to monitor icebergs in the North Atlantic.

In 1985 the wreckage of Titanic was found by Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel on the ocean floor at a depth of 12,500 ft (3,800 m). It has remained an object of great interest to scientists and historians since. The story of Titanic has become iconic, serving as a monument to both technological ambition and human tragedy, and its narrative continues to captivate people worldwide through films, books, museums, and public memorials.