Titanic

Disaster: World's biggest ship, at the time, hits iceberg and sinks. Few lifeboats on board causing high death rate.
Date: April 14-15, 1912
Deaths: over 1,500
Survivors: about 700
Boarded: 2,200

Interesting fact: Most people froze to death, not drown.
                          All second class children survived.
Lesson learned: No ship, no matter how big or well designed, is unsinkable.

On the night of April 14, 1912 Titanic, a British ship, was on her main voyage to New York from England. Due to the night being moonless, the water being still and binoculars locked in a box without a key, the outlookers were not able to see the ice berg until it was nearly upon them. The Crows Nest identified a big black area in the distance as an iceberg. The famous words "iceberg right ahead" were shouted into a phone.

Moments later Titanic collide with the iceberg at 11:40 pm "rupturing at least five compartments" of the hull. (history.com) The ship was designed to stay afloat with no more than four compartments full of water. Titanic only carried 20 lifeboats, "four more than were required by British regulations"  (http://octopus.gma.org/space1/titanic.html). There were only enough lifeboats for half the people on board. An hour past the collision the first lifeboat was lowered. Since the Titanic was said to be unsinkable many people didn't believe the she was going down and therefore went back to their rooms. As time past realization set in the ship was going down. People began to panic and tried jumping into the remaining lifeboats, but shots were fired in the air to keep them back. "Ladies and children first" was the order given to the crew. Wives were separated from their husbands and children from their fathers. Love ones were never seen again.

For years there has been a debate about whether the Titanic broke in two, it was recently confirmed when the wreak was found in 1985 off the coast of NewFoundland. Titanic lays two miles down on the ocean floor where bacteria is eating away the ship.

Like many tragedies the crew is forgotten. Included in the boarding of 2,200 was about 900 crew. On the ship, the crew continued to follow orders trusting that they would be the last to get off before Titanic went under. Three-fourths of the crew perished with the ship.

Some honorable people on board were a band of musicians who played in hopes of calming the crowd in their final moments. To this day no one knows when they stopped. They were greatly honored at their funerals in Europe.

For more info and survivor's testimonies visit http://www.history.com/interactives/titanic-interactive.

Before:

After:

        

1st photo from: http://www.titanicuniverse.com/
2nd photo from: http://www.titanicuniverse.com/
3rd photo from: http://www.titanicuniverse.com/

London's Great Fire

Disaster: One of the World's biggest cities is nearly destroyed by fire.

Date: Sept. 2 - 6, 1666
Deaths: 16
Damage: More than four-fifths of the city burned down.

Interesting Fact: The fire could be seen 30 miles away.

Lesson Learned: Don't have narrow streets or alleyways and construct buildings of brick or stone (not timber.)

   On the evening of September 1, King Charles II's baker, Thomas Farrior, did not distinguish his oven correctly. Around midnight (claims History) a spark landed some wood outside the oven catching fire. The fire quickly grew in size, but Farrior, his family and a servant escaped. Sadly, the baker assistant did not make it out.

   From the baker shop "on Pudding Lane near the London bridge" the fire spread from house to house which many of them were close together and made of timber. Citizens tried to put out the fire with water buckets and taring down buildings, but the fire keep raging on. Finally, the people gave up and ran to their homes to evacuated their family and processions.

   In all, only 16 people "were known to have died" despite the fact that the streets were crowded and narrow (History). History.com estimates that 13,000 houses burned down along with 90 churches.

Not long after the disaster, King Charles II ordered for the rebuilding of the city. A famous architect by the name of Sir Christopher Wren was hired by the King for the new layout of the city. In the design, streets would be wider, houses farther apart, narrow allies "forbidden" and many buildings made of brick or stone.

Firefighters were not a big part of society at this time. In fact, fire departments would not be established until the 18th century (History). Until then people resorted to buckets of water.


Photo from: http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/TheGreatFireOfLondon.asp

Info from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/great-fire-of-london-begins