Although the majority of dead were crew members and third-class passengers, many of the era’s wealthiest and most prominent families lost members, among them Isidor and Ida Straus and John Jacob Astor. In the popular mind, the glamour associated with the ship, its maiden voyage, and its notable passengers magnified the tragedy of its sinking.

Legends arose almost immediately about the night’s events, those who had died, and those who survived. Heroes and heroines—such as American Molly Brown, who helped command a lifeboat, and Capt. Arthur Henry Rostron of the Carpathia—were identified and celebrated by the press. Others—notably Ismay, who had found space in a lifeboat and survived—were vilified. There was a strong desire to explain the tragedy, and inquiries into the sinking were held in the United States and Great Britain.

Carpathia Capt. Arthur Henry Rostron receiving award from Molly Brown

Capt. Arthur Henry Rostron of the Carpathia received a silver cup award from Molly Brown for his role in the rescue of Titanic survivors.

The U.S. investigation, which lasted from April 19 to May 25, 1912, was led by Sen. William Alden Smith. In all, more than 80 people were interviewed. Notable witnesses included Second Officer Charles Lightoller, the most senior officer to survive. He defended the actions of his superiors, especially Captain Smith’s refusal to decrease the ship’s speed. Many passengers testified to the general confusion on the ship.

A general warning was never sounded, causing a number of passengers and even crew members to be unaware of the danger for some time. In addition, because a scheduled lifeboat drill had never been held, the lowering of the boats was often haphazard.

Perhaps the most-scrutinized testimony came from the crew of the Californian, who claimed their ship was some 20 nautical miles (37 km) from the Titanic. Crew members saw a ship but said it was too small to be the Titanic. They also stated that it was moving and that efforts to contact it by Morse lamp were unsuccessful.

Capt. Stanley Lord, who had retired for the night. Instead of ordering the ship’s wireless operator to turn on the radio, Lord instead told the men to continue to use the Morse lamp. By 2:00 am the nearby ship had reportedly sailed away.

In the end, the U.S. investigation faulted the British Board of Trade, “to whose laxity of regulation and hasty inspection the world is largely indebted for this awful fatality.” Other contributing causes were also noted, including the failure of Captain Smith to slow the Titanic after receiving ice warnings. However, perhaps the strongest criticism was levied at Captain Lord and the Californian.

The committee found that the ship was “nearer the Titanic than the 19 miles reported by her Captain, and that her officers and crew saw the distress signals of the Titanic and failed to respond to them in accordance with the dictates of humanity, international usage, and the requirements of law.”

In May 1912 the British inquiry began. It was overseen by the British Board of Trade, the same agency that had been derided by U.S. investigators for the insufficient lifeboat requirements. The presiding judge was Sir John Charles Bigham, Lord Mersey. Little new evidence was discovered during the 28 days of testimony. The final report stated that “the loss of the said ship was due to collision with an iceberg, brought about by the excessive speed at which the ship was being navigated.”

However, Mersey also stated that he was “not able to blame Captain Smith…he was doing only that which other skilled men would have done in the same position.” Captain Lord and the Californian, however, drew sharp rebuke. The British investigators claimed that the liner was some 5–10 nautical miles (9–19 km) from the Titanic and that “she might have saved many, if not all, of the lives that were lost.”

Both the U.S. and British investigations also proposed various safety recommendations, and in 1913 the first International Conference for Safety of Life at Sea was called in London. The conference drew up rules requiring that every ship have lifeboat space for each person embarked; that lifeboat drills be held for each voyage; and, because the Californian had not heard the distress signals of the Titanic, that ships maintain a 24-hour radio watch. The International Ice Patrol was established to warn ships of icebergs in the North Atlantic shipping lanes and to break up ice.

The U.S. and British inquiries did little to end speculation and debate concerning the sinking of the Titanic. Particular focus centred on the Californian. Supporters of Lord, nicknamed “Lordites,” believed that the captain had been unfairly criticized. They held that a third ship—possibly the Samson, a Norwegian boat illegally hunting seals—was between the Leyland liner and the Titanic. That view eventually gained much support.

While the true location of the Californian will likely never be conclusively known, many experts believe it was actually some 20 miles (37 km) away and would not have reached the Titanic before it sank. However, Lord has continued to draw criticism for his failure to take more action in response to the distress signals.

Within days of the Titanic’s sinking, talk began of finding the wreck. Given the limits of technology, however, serious attempts were not undertaken until the second half of the 20th century.

In August 1985 Robert Ballard led an American-French expedition from aboard the U.S. Navy research ship Knorr. The quest was partly a means for testing the Argo, a 16-foot (5-metre) submersible sled equipped with a remote-controlled camera that could transmit live images to a monitor. The submersible was sent some 13,000 feet (4,000 metres) to the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, sending video back to the Knorr.

On September 1, 1985, the first underwater images of the Titanic were recorded as its giant boilers were discovered. Later video showed the ship lying upright in two pieces. While the bow was clearly recognizable, the stern section was severely damaged. Covering the wreckage were rust-coloured stalactite-like formations. Scientists later determined that the rusticles, as they were named, were created by iron-eating microorganisms, which are consuming the wreck.

The Titanic—located at about 41°43′57′′ N, 49°56′49′′ W (bow section), some 13 nautical miles (24 km) from the position given in its distress signals—was explored numerous times by manned and unmanned submersibles. The expeditions found no sign of the long gash previously thought to have been ripped in the ship’s hull by the iceberg.

Scientists instead discovered that the collision’s impact had produced a series of thin gashes as well as brittle fracturing and separation of seams in the adjacent hull plates, thus allowing water to flood in and sink the ship. In subsequent years, marine salvagers raised small artifacts from the wreckage as well as pieces of the ship itself, including a large section of the hull. Examination of these parts—as well as paperwork in the builder’s archives—led to speculation that low-quality steel or weak rivets may have contributed to the Titanic’s sinking.

Countless renditions, interpretations, and analyses of the Titanic disaster transformed the ship into a cultural icon. In addition to being the subject of numerous books, the ship inspired various movies, notably A Night to Remember (1958) and James Cameron’s blockbuster Titanic (1997).

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, artifacts from the ship formed the basis of a highly successful exhibit that toured the world, and a profitable business was developed transporting tourists to the Titanic’s wreck. Several museums dedicated to the liner draw thousands of visitors each year; in 2012, the 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking, Titanic Belfast opened on the site of Harland and Wolff’s former shipyard, and it became one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions.

Although the wreck of the Titanic will eventually deteriorate, the famed liner seems unlikely to fade from the public imagination.

The top speed of the Titanic was 23 knots (more than 26 miles per hour). 8. The Titanic originally was designed to carry 64 lifeboats. To save from cluttering decks, the ship ended up carrying 20 on her maiden voyage.

On April 15th, 1912, that iceberg was 5,000 miles away from the Arctic Circle. Now it's just another drop of water in the ocean.

Did the sinking change the world? Slightly. The North Atlantic got an ice patrol. Ships had to keep a wireless communication 24/7 (or they at least considered it.) We got a metaphor for what happens to arrogant people or to people who take one risk too many or to companies who put the demand for luxury or for speed over the need for caution and safety. But we haven't changed. People still speed on the highway. People still take it for granted that they will live through a disaster.