RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning of April 15, 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City.
Of the 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died in the sinking, making it one of the deadliest commercial peacetime maritime disasters in modern history.
The 1997 film Titanic created by James Cameron is a fictional interpretation of the actual voyage of the Titanic. Despite the film being a fictional interpretation of the event that occurred on April 15, 1912; there were historical facts that were included.
In the film, as the ship is sinking and chaos is unfolding all around, the band continues to play on. When the time came for the band to abandon ship, the band leader dismissed his bandmates and continued playing his violin. He was immediately rejoined by the rest of his band.
This touching account portrayed by actors actually did occur. Violinist Wallace Hartley kept his band playing in order to keep a calm atmosphere. Hartley eventually gave his life keeping the passengers waiting to board a lifeboat (and those who, unfortunately, were not) calm.
In 2012, a letter Hartley wrote to his parents during his first day on the Titanic sold at an auction for $185,968.80. In it, Hartley discussed his admiration for the ship, and for his fellow bandmates. A year later, the very violin that Hartley played that night sold for $1.7 million.
If anything, it’s nice to know that the item involved with such a courageous act is the one that is most highly sought-after, valuable and, therefore, most cherished artifacts.
What do you think now that you know that the scene involving the band is true? That these individuals gave their life to try and calm their fellow passengers during such a horrible event. Use the comments section below and share your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you!
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