Obviously, every newspaper was in a race to publish the first headline of what was one of the biggest disasters in history, and in that rush, major news outlets like The World, The Daily Mail, and the Belfast Telegraph mistakenly reported there had been no fatalities. Unfortunately, this gave false hope to the passengers’ families and loved ones.
Taking advantage of the time difference, American newspapers were able to gather more information and their headlines were much more accurate. As shown in the photo above, the New York Times published the story under the headline: “Titanic Sinks Four Hours After Hitting Iceberg; 866 Rescued by Carpathia, Probably 1,250 Perish; Ismay Safe, Mrs. Astor Maybe, Noted Names Missing.”
The Musician That Was Only Declared Dead 88 Years Later
One of the biggest mysteries of the Titanic was the story of Roger Bricoux, the 21-year-old French cello player that was part of the eight-piece Titanic orchestra. Even though Bricoux died alongside his fellow musicians on the night of the crash on April 15th, 1912, he wasn't actually declared dead until the year 2000.
Thinking he had survived the disaster, the French Army even considered him a deserter when he didn't appear to serve in WWI. The French Association of the Titanic tried to fix what appeared to be a terrible bureaucratic mishap and worked incessantly to clear Bricoux's name and put him to rest, but they were only able to do this 88 years after the disaster when he was finally declared dead.
The Titanic "Curse" Began With Its Construction
Some people say that the Titanic was cursed right from the start. During the ship's construction, eight workers lost their lives, and three of them remain unidentified to this day. Unfortunately, back in 1911, when the Titanic was built, the health and safety practices demanded in construction work today didn't exist, and so it became almost inevitable for people in the engineering and construction fields to have fatal accidents.
Of the eight men that passed away during the Titanic's construction were Samuel Scott, John Kelly, William Clarke, James Dobbin, and Robert Murphy. In 2012, a plaque in Belfast was unveiled in their honor. Since most of the shipyard workers came from Belfast, it seemed appropriate to memorialize the lives of these eight men in the heart of the city.
Men Disguised as Women to Get on a Lifeboat
There were several rumors that, in a moment of desperation, a few men actually dressed up as women in order to board a lifeboat. Among them were Dickinson Bishop, J. Bruce Ismay, William Carter, and William T. Sloper, which were plagued by the rumors throughout their lives. For Dickinson Bishop, the rumors even led to a divorce.
He and his wife Helen got divorced in 1916, and even though Helen claimed Dickinson was mean and a drunk, the rumors of him disguised as a woman to board the lifeboat ultimately ended their relationship. When asked about the incident, Bishop claimed there was no official order that only allowed women and children to board the lifeboats.
Not a Single Engineer Survived
So many people lost their lives when the Titanic sunk that the true heroes of the night of the crash are often forgotten. Not one of the 25 engineers on the ship survived that night, and it was because up until the very last minute, they stayed behind to keep the electricity and pumps running, even as the ship was sinking.
The ship's lights only went out when every last part of it finally sunk. The engineers also kept the radio working, making sure they were putting out distress signals until seconds before the ship disappeared into the water.