Legend: Milton Hershey (founder of the Hershey Chocolate Company) booked a room on the Titanic.
Verdict: True
Rumor has it that Milton S. Hershey booked a $300 stateroom on the Titanic.(It would be $7,281 today) For an unknown reason he cancelled his ticket before the voyage. Some theories have surfaced such as the fact that his wife Kitty Hershey was very sick and could not go on the voyage. Another theory is that there was trouble at the Hershey chocolate factory. The Hershey's ended up sailing on a German ship called the Amerika and arrived in America before the Titanic sank. The Amerika was one of the many ships that sent word to the Titanic that there was a dangerous ice field. If the Hershey's had been on the Titanic they actually would have had a good chance of survival, (compared to the other passengers) 97% of first class women survived and 33% of first class men survived
Legend: Jay Bruce Ismay (the owner of the White Star Line) escaped the Titanic and was later divorced by his wife.
Verdict: False
While it is true that Ismay’s wife filed a lawsuit against her husband it’s false that he got into a lifeboat before she and the children did. He got them into a lifeboat on the port side and then got on a boat immediately opposite theirs. Ismay was ridiculed by the public for surviving while hundred of men, women, and children perished. Ismay soon had a chance to defend himself though. He was the first witness on the first day of the US Senate Inquiry into the loss of the Titanic, on April 19th, 1912, the day after the Carpathia had docked in New York. Ismay's evidence to Senator Smith is as follows:
Senator SMITH: What were the circumstances, Mr. Ismay, of your departure from the ship?
Mr. ISMAY: In what way?
Senator SMITH: Did the last boat that you went on leave the ship from some point near where you were?
Mr. ISMAY: I was immediately opposite the lifeboat when she left.
Senator SMITH: Immediately opposite?
Mr. ISMAY: Yes.
Senator SMITH: What were the circumstances of your departure from the ship? I ask merely that -
Mr. ISMAY: The boat was there. There was a certain number of men in the boat, and the officer called out asking if there were any more women, and there was no response, and there were no passengers left on the deck.
Senator SMITH: There were no passengers on the deck?
Mr. ISMAY: No, sir; and as the boat was in the act of being lowered away, I got into it.
Senator SMITH: Naturally, you would remember that if you saw it? When you entered the lifeboat yourself, you say there were no passengers on that part of the ship?
Mr. ISMAY: None.
Senator SMITH: Did you, at any time, see any struggle among the men to get into these boats?
Mr. ISMAY: No.
Senator SMITH: Was there any attempt, as this boat was being lowered past the other decks, to have you take on more passengers?
Mr. ISMAY: None, sir. There were no passengers there to take on.
As you can see from the inquisition by Senator Smith, Bruce Ismay denied all charges. Any proof Congress could have found was at the bottom of the ocean.
Legend: A man survived the sinking of the Titanic because he was drunk.
Verdict: True
Some of you may be shocked by this one but it is true. The man's name was Charles Joughin. He swam in the cold Atlantic for almost two hours before he was pulled into lifeboat B. He was the last survivor to leave the Titanic. While studies show that drinking alcohol increases the risk of hypothermia others studies show that drinking a certain amount slows down heart loss which allows the drinker or drinkers to survive longer in cold environments.
Verdict: True
Rumor has it that Milton S. Hershey booked a $300 stateroom on the Titanic.(It would be $7,281 today) For an unknown reason he cancelled his ticket before the voyage. Some theories have surfaced such as the fact that his wife Kitty Hershey was very sick and could not go on the voyage. Another theory is that there was trouble at the Hershey chocolate factory. The Hershey's ended up sailing on a German ship called the Amerika and arrived in America before the Titanic sank. The Amerika was one of the many ships that sent word to the Titanic that there was a dangerous ice field. If the Hershey's had been on the Titanic they actually would have had a good chance of survival, (compared to the other passengers) 97% of first class women survived and 33% of first class men survived
Legend: Jay Bruce Ismay (the owner of the White Star Line) escaped the Titanic and was later divorced by his wife.
Verdict: False
While it is true that Ismay’s wife filed a lawsuit against her husband it’s false that he got into a lifeboat before she and the children did. He got them into a lifeboat on the port side and then got on a boat immediately opposite theirs. Ismay was ridiculed by the public for surviving while hundred of men, women, and children perished. Ismay soon had a chance to defend himself though. He was the first witness on the first day of the US Senate Inquiry into the loss of the Titanic, on April 19th, 1912, the day after the Carpathia had docked in New York. Ismay's evidence to Senator Smith is as follows:
Senator SMITH: What were the circumstances, Mr. Ismay, of your departure from the ship?
Mr. ISMAY: In what way?
Senator SMITH: Did the last boat that you went on leave the ship from some point near where you were?
Mr. ISMAY: I was immediately opposite the lifeboat when she left.
Senator SMITH: Immediately opposite?
Mr. ISMAY: Yes.
Senator SMITH: What were the circumstances of your departure from the ship? I ask merely that -
Mr. ISMAY: The boat was there. There was a certain number of men in the boat, and the officer called out asking if there were any more women, and there was no response, and there were no passengers left on the deck.
Senator SMITH: There were no passengers on the deck?
Mr. ISMAY: No, sir; and as the boat was in the act of being lowered away, I got into it.
Senator SMITH: Naturally, you would remember that if you saw it? When you entered the lifeboat yourself, you say there were no passengers on that part of the ship?
Mr. ISMAY: None.
Senator SMITH: Did you, at any time, see any struggle among the men to get into these boats?
Mr. ISMAY: No.
Senator SMITH: Was there any attempt, as this boat was being lowered past the other decks, to have you take on more passengers?
Mr. ISMAY: None, sir. There were no passengers there to take on.
As you can see from the inquisition by Senator Smith, Bruce Ismay denied all charges. Any proof Congress could have found was at the bottom of the ocean.
Legend: A man survived the sinking of the Titanic because he was drunk.
Verdict: True
Some of you may be shocked by this one but it is true. The man's name was Charles Joughin. He swam in the cold Atlantic for almost two hours before he was pulled into lifeboat B. He was the last survivor to leave the Titanic. While studies show that drinking alcohol increases the risk of hypothermia others studies show that drinking a certain amount slows down heart loss which allows the drinker or drinkers to survive longer in cold environments.