Titanic-1912
A couple of days ago I went to the Science Centre here in Toronto to see the Titanic exhibit currently being shown. I've always been fascinated by the tragic circumstances surrounding the sinking on April 14th, 1912. Sure, the 1997 movie had a lot to do with peaking my interest in the topic, however, that was not the reason behind my going to see this exhibit.
It contained over one hundred artifacts unearthed from the ship over the years with detailed plaques describing personal stories and hard facts regarding everything from the building of the Titanic to it's final few minutes. A lot of effort was put into making the whole experience as vivid as possible. A couple of the corridors even felt like the upper and lower classes of the ship, complete with a loud engine sound when we were learning about the steerage passengers.
Amongst the various items on display were bags, dishes, letters, money, jewellery, clothing and parts of the ship itself. The exhibit included pictures of some of the survivours as well as photos of the deceased, some of whom were crew members who had no chance of survival. There was also an artificial iceberg that was freezing cold to touch, as well as an illumination on the wall so you could get a sense of the size of the little emergency boats. There was an informative video that showed how the ship broke in two, as well as a complete list of every passenger who was onboard the Titanic.
For someone who is not only interested in the Titanic, but fascinated by history in general, I thought it was very informative and fascinating. It was such a tragic loss of life and it's hard to believe that there were so many things that could have been done differently that could have prevented its sinking. They should not have been speeding ahead, knowing that there were icebergs ahead. Nor is there any excuse for not having enough boats to get passengers off. It's almost as if they were tempting fate.
Although some people may not like the 1997 film (or claim that they now hate it because of all the hype) I think that the one really great thing that came out of it was that it made people aware of the tragic circumstances of the Titanic so that it will never be forgotten. Without the film grabbing my attention I would barely know anything about the circumstances and events of April 14th, 1912. It's hard to believe that in only five years, Titanic will have been at the bottom of the ocean for one hundred years.
It contained over one hundred artifacts unearthed from the ship over the years with detailed plaques describing personal stories and hard facts regarding everything from the building of the Titanic to it's final few minutes. A lot of effort was put into making the whole experience as vivid as possible. A couple of the corridors even felt like the upper and lower classes of the ship, complete with a loud engine sound when we were learning about the steerage passengers.
Amongst the various items on display were bags, dishes, letters, money, jewellery, clothing and parts of the ship itself. The exhibit included pictures of some of the survivours as well as photos of the deceased, some of whom were crew members who had no chance of survival. There was also an artificial iceberg that was freezing cold to touch, as well as an illumination on the wall so you could get a sense of the size of the little emergency boats. There was an informative video that showed how the ship broke in two, as well as a complete list of every passenger who was onboard the Titanic.
For someone who is not only interested in the Titanic, but fascinated by history in general, I thought it was very informative and fascinating. It was such a tragic loss of life and it's hard to believe that there were so many things that could have been done differently that could have prevented its sinking. They should not have been speeding ahead, knowing that there were icebergs ahead. Nor is there any excuse for not having enough boats to get passengers off. It's almost as if they were tempting fate.
Although some people may not like the 1997 film (or claim that they now hate it because of all the hype) I think that the one really great thing that came out of it was that it made people aware of the tragic circumstances of the Titanic so that it will never be forgotten. Without the film grabbing my attention I would barely know anything about the circumstances and events of April 14th, 1912. It's hard to believe that in only five years, Titanic will have been at the bottom of the ocean for one hundred years.