In the over 100 years since it sank on its maiden voyage, the Titanic has been the subject of endless fascination, as evidenced by the efforts to find its final resting spot, the museums full of its objects, and the countless books, documentaries, and movies made about the doomed ocean liner. Thanks to the dramatization of the Titanic’s sinking and the undying interest in the story, millions of people are familiar with various aspects of the ship’s demise, and the nearly 1,500 people who died in the North Atlantic in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912. The sinking of the ship is still nearly as controversial now as it was over 100 years ago, and the drama is just as compelling.
In the century since the Titanic sank, public interest in the ship and its history has waxed and waned on a regular basis. There was a flurry of activity right after it went down, as people tried to wrap their minds around what happened, but the World Wars pushed attention elsewhere. Then, during the 1950s, scientists had the time and money to become interested in it again. While there were numerous attempts to find that ship during the 1970s, the mighty ship still kept her secrets, her dead and their possessions safely at the bottom of the sea, where only strange creature comfortable in the depths could disturb them.
As it turned out, the most famous wreck in the world would not be located until 1985, over 70 years after the ship sank that fateful April night. The discovery ignited a new flurry of interest in Titanic, including an interest in what the wreck still held, who those items belonged, to and what should be done with them. The 1997 blockbuster movie about the ship only stirred up more interest and controversy, both of which continue to this day.
