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It was a terrible tragedy that happened on the night of April 12,1912, but it was also a very important lesson that no one will ever forget.... It was the year 1907. Plans were being made to build 2 large ships. One was called the Titanic and the other the Olympic. So construction began in Newfoundland, and for five long years many people worked all day and night to build these two huge luxurious ships. The Titanic weighed 45,000 tons and was 883 feet long. It could travel as fast as 21-23 knots. It took a crew of 907 people to run it. The Titanic went through many safety checks before its first voyage, and was considered to be "unsinkable". As soon as people knew when the Titanic would leave Newfoundland, they started buying tickets. The price ranged from $150 to $2500. The workers who helped build the ship were given one third-class ticket each, but many others, the so-called "rich and famous" were willing to pay the large amounts just to be the first to ride the Titanic. As the day of the voyage grew closer, some people said the Titanic would sink because it was too big, and gave their tickets away, but some didn't care and went on anyway. On April 10th, 1912, the Titanic set sail. Two days went by and everyone enjoyed the trip, but then came the night of April 14th; the night nobody on or off the ship would ever forget. It started out as any normal day and most people thought they would live through the day. However, throughout the day, look-outs reported seeing icebergs in the area. No one knows exactly why their warinings weren't listened to. That night, as many people went to bed they all thought they would live. Then, around 11:15 P.M. the look-outs called out that they had seen an iceberg dead ahead. No one heard the distress call except the captain, but by then it was too late. At 11:45 P.M. the Titanic rammed a huge iceberg on her starboard side! The captain knew that 20 lifeboats could not hold 2,227 people, and that many people would die because the water was so cold. So, he had his men get everyone prepared, and so people wouldn't panic, he had everyone go and get their life jackets on. Even though this wouldn't save everyone, at least it would prevent them from dying so soon. Everyone from 1st and 2nd class had to come up on top, but they locked 3rd class people down in their rooms. One man in 1st class traded a man his life jacket for a sweater because his room was locked shut. Half of the men in the boiler room were killed because the rest of the crew shut the boiler room. As the Titanic started sinking, distress firecrackers and flares were sent up. The California, another ship not too far away, thought they were partying, but they were actually sinking. It took about two hours for the Titanic to sink. Nineteen of the lifeboats made it safely out, but the other one tipped when people were crowding in to be evacuated. There were about 1500 people left on the ship. Another ship in the area, the Carpathia, picked up those passengers who managed to make it into the lifeboats. Seven hundred five people survived the sinking of the Titanic. The wreck of the Titanic was found in 1985 by a French and American expedition lead by Dr. Robert Ballard. Scientists think that if the Titanic hadn't hit that iceberg, it would probably have hit an ice field anyway.
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1907 - Plans are made to build two huge luxury ships - the Olympic and the Titanic; with a third, the Brittanic, to be built later. 1908-1909 - Construction of the Olympic and the Titanic begins in Belfast, Ireland 1912- March 31 - The outfitting of the Titanic is complete. 1912 - April -10 Wednesday, sailing day 1912- April 11 Thursday 1:30 pm . The Titanic leaves Queenstown, Newfoundland, for New York 1912 - April 12 and 13 - Friday and Saturday. The titanic sails through calm, clear water. 1912 - April 14 - Sunday. Seven iceberg warnings are received during the day. 1912 - April 14 - 11:40 P.M. - The lookouts see an iceberg dead ahead. The iceberg strikes the Titanic on the starboard side of her bow. 1912 - April 14 - 11:50 P.M. - Water has poured in and and has risen 14 feet in the front part of the ship. 1912 - April 15 - 12:00 A.M. - The captain is told the ship can only stay afloat for a couple of hours. He gives the orders to call for help over the radio. 1912 - April 15 - 12:45 A.M. - The first lifeboat is safely lowered away. It can carry 65 people but only leaves with 28 aboard. The first distress rocket is fired. Eight rockets will be fired during the night. 1912 - April 15 - 2:05 a.m. - The last lifeboat leaves.. There are now over 1,500 people left on the sinking ship. The tilt of the Titanic's deck grows steeper and steeper. 1912 - April 15 - 2:18 A.M. - The ship's lights blink once and then go out. The survivors see the ship break in two, the bow section sinks. 1912 - April 15 - 8:50 A.M. - The Carpathia leaves the area with 705 survivors bound for New York. 1912 - April 19 - May 25 - Several ships are sent to the disaster area to recover bodies. A total of 328 are found floating in the area. ******** 1985 - September - A French and American scientific expedition led by Dr. Robert Ballard discovers the wreck of the Titanic. |
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An iceberg is a large piece of ice that has broken off, or calved, from the edge of glacier into a body of water. Nearly all icebergs are found in the ocean , but all are composed of fresh water ice rather than from frozen sea water. They are usually white, blue, or green; although some are black due to rock material inside them . Most often the icebergs come from Greenland and Antarctica. Most of the Greenland icebergs take around 2 years to melt. The Antarctica icebergs take around 10 years to melt. Ice bergs from Antarctica are the largest found. They can be from 6 feet around to 100 feet around. |
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1.C. 45,500 tons 2. A. Ice field 3. C. 20 4. B. 400 mi 5. A. Breaks off glaciers 6. B. Captain Smith 7. A. 2227 8. B. Atlantic 8. B. Atlantic 9. C. 3 10. C. September, 1985 |
Titanic dimentsions - „ http://www.home.gil.com.au/~dalgarry/dime.html
Titanic passenger list - „ http://www.home.gil.com.au/~dalgarry/passengers/pl.html
Titanic news stories - „ http://www.nexus.edu.au/Teach Stud/titanic2/media/media95.html
The movie Titanic - „ http://www.reallyuseful.com/bbs/messages/3194.html
Interactive Titanic (game) site - „www.mediadome.com/Webisodes/Titanic/inthis.html
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Ballard, Robert D. Exploring the Titanic. New York, 1980. Madison Publishing Company and Scholastic, Inc. * Permission to use the image of the Titanic has been requested from Madison Publishing Co. and Ken Marschall, Illustrator Encarta 96 Encyclopedia, 1993-1995. Microsoft Corporation Groliers Electronic Encyclopedia The World Book Encyclopedia. 1991 World Book, Inc. Vol. 19 |