RMS Titanic departs Southampton, England, on 10 April 1912. Image from Wikimedia Commons
Today marks 100 years to the day that RMS Titanic sailed away from Southampton, England, on its maiden voyage bound for New York. Five days later, it lay at the bottom of the North Atlantic, the victim of an iceberg collision.
The story of Titanic still fascinates, as evidenced, as one example, by the 3D re-release of James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster film. Titanic 3D drew £2.8m and grabbed the No 1 spot at the UK box office this past weekend, its opening weekend.
If the film isn’t enough to satiate Titanic fans, there is ample material available on the subject online. Siliconrepublic.com climbs aboard and delivers the top 5 in Titanic tech resources:
1/ Facebook: Titanic Stories
Titanic Stories is Facebook Page that aims to promote and enable discussion on the stories associated with Titanic and Belfast, the city in which the ship was built.
In addition to stories, the page contains photos, videos and events, and seeks to separate fact from fiction.
The page has 112,605 fans (at time from writing) from all across the globe.
2/ Twitter: Official Twitter page for RMS Titanic, Inc. & Expedition Titanic
RMS Titanic, Inc, is the official salvor-in-possession of Titanic. This means it has exclusive access to Titanic pictures, videos and artifacts. The company, it says, is “dedicated to preserving the legacy of the ship, wreck site and all her passengers and crew through educational, historical, scientific and conservation-based programmes.”
RMS Titanic, Inc’s Twitter account includes photos, trivia, and facts about the ship and its passengers.
The account, which has 13,767 followers, is hosting a 100th anniversary tweetup today (10 April) at 1pm PT (9pm Irish time).
3/ Pinterest: Titanic
What makes this Pinterest board – which has 126 followers – about Titanic so interesting is the variety of images it contains pertaining to the doomed liner.
Pins include images of the ship itself, stills from Cameron’s film, videos, posters, covers, and even the weird and wacky, such as a soap set, in the shape of the ship and an iceberg, and a Titanic tissue box that stands on an angle.
This Pinterest Titanic board is a great collection for any hard-core Titanic fan.
Titanic and iceberg soap
4/ Online: Encyclopedia Titanica
Encyclopedia Titanica is a virtual treasure chest for anyone fascinated with Titanic. The site deems itself “the foremost repository of facts, opinion and media relating to RMS Titanic”, and does indeed look to be just that.
Visitors to the site will find just about anything and everything pertaining to Titanic, such as a list of survivors divided by lifeboat, including their ages, class on the ship (eg, first-class passenger), ticket numbers, the costs of their fares, where they boarded Titanic, and their occupations.
Of course, there are lists pertaining to the victims, as well as biographies, deck plans, research articles, discussions, pictures, and recordings.
5/ App: Titanic: Her Journey
Titanic: Her Journey, is an iPad app commemorating the 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking. The app costs US$4.99 on iTunes, and according to one reviewer of the app, “the scrollable deck plans alone are worth the price of admission.”
Titanic: Her Journey collates the knowledge of Titanic experts in an interactive manner, from her construction at Harland & Wolff shipyards in Belfast to passengers’ stories, the app aims to detail every aspect of Titanic’s legacy.
Features of the app do include deck plans that can be expanded and explored, trivia, a timeline, archival footage, images of the wreck, narrated survivor accounts, and information on the ship’s crossing, the disaster and the aftermath of the tragedy.
Screenshot from Titanic: Her Journey
