The Titanic And The Poseidon Adventure – Coincidence?
Posted Under: Science and Technology
If you’ve done any research at all on the Titanic, or even if you’ve just flipped through an article or two about the sinking of the ship, you’re probably aware of at least one remarkable coincidence associated with the great tragedy ” that fourteen years before the Titanic sank, author Morgan Robertson wrote a novella titled Futility about the largest and grandest ocean liner of it’s time ” one considered unsinkable because of it’s new, water tight compartments ” that sank after striking an iceberg. Many passengers lost their lives because the ship did not carry enough lifeboats. The name of this fictional ship? The Titan!
But here’s a little known fact you can use to amaze your friends and family. On that fateful last night aboard the Titanic, over 200 Second Class passengers were eagerly holed up in the Second Class dining room. What was keeping these passengers so entertained? Why, a new fangled contraption called a Motion Picture! And what were they watching? What else? “The Poseidon Adventure”!
The film industry was still in it’s infancy in 1912 and had only recently graduated to projecting movies onto screens for entire audiences to enjoy. Movies of the day were short, no more than a reel, and of course, filmed in black and white with no sound. Nevertheless, this new entertainment industry had captured the imagination of the people and the Titanic carried it’s own movie projector and library of movies.
The film industy still had a somewhat undesirable image, though, that it had aquired in the days of the Nickleodeon. This is probably the reason that not many have heard this story. The First Class passengers considered the movies to be vulgar so the films were shown late in the evening, at 11 PM after the First Class passengers had retired, and only in the Second Class dining room.
On that fateful night, April 14, 1912, there were a few hundred Second Class passengers eagerly viewing “The Poseidon Adventure”. So enthralled were they by this tale of six passengers struggling to survive a sinking ship that they either didn’t feel the Titanic shudder as it struck the iceberg or the took no notice. In fact, they were so entertained by the movie that they sat through it a second time!
“The Poseidon Adventure” was a newer movie, and a longer one too. After watching the 53 minute feature a second time, it was after 1AM when the Second Class passengers finally returned to the deck of The Titanic. There they found that nearly all of the lifeboats had already been launched. These hundreds of Second Class passengers were stranded onboard a sinking ship, while the too few lifeboats, full of First Class passengers and crew members, drifted off into the distance.
This grim coincidence could explain why barely one third of the Titanic’s Second Class Passengers survived while nearly two thirds of the First Class passengers and crew made it to safety.
Related posts:
- Last survivor of ‘unsinkable’ Titanic dies at 97 LONDON (AP) — Millvina Dean, who as a baby was...
- How To Download Movies Online There are movie download services that you can use and...
- Rent DVD Online To Enjoy Movies At Home When it comes to watching movies, it can get pretty...
- Same Day Service Watch Movies Online When you have time to sit down with your family...
- Movie Rentals The New Way One of the worst things to do is go to...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
