On This Day In History: Titanic Era Ends

On this day in history: May 31, 1911 and 2009 on 12seconds.tv

In the presence of thousands of spectators the s.s. Titanic which will share with the Olympic the distinction of being one of the two largest vessels afloat, was launched from Messrs. Harland & Wolff’s yard at the Queen’s Island yesterday. When the Olympic was launched on the 20th October last there was considerable speculation as to how the ceremony would pass off as up to that time no ship of her enormous dimensions had ever left the ways, and extraordinary precautions had to be taken in order to provide against any accident. However as matters turned out it was proved that there was no cause for anxiety. The builders had left nothing to chance and the launch was one of the most successful ever witnessed at the Island.

The above text and image of a launch ticket is taken from The Belfast Newsletter which was published June 1, 1911, the day after the Titanic’s launch.

Millvina Dean, the last remaining survivor of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, died in a care home in England on Sunday, media reports said. She was 97.

Elizabeth Gladys Dean, known to friends as Millvina, was only nine weeks old when the liner hit an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean on the night of April 14, 1912, and sank killing 1,500 people.

Special thanks to @michaelemlong at FriendFeed for the heads-up on this AFP report.  It was literally minutes after I had read of the Titanic’s first launch on this date in history that I saw his post on the passing of Millvina Dean.

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