7 Famous People Who Almost Boarded the Titanic But Didn't
By Megan Vick,
6 hours ago
The Titanic sank in the early hours of April 14, 1912, after months of being declared the "unsinkable ship." The maritime disaster took the lives of approximately 1,500 people who either sank with the ship or died in the freezing Atlantic water waiting for rescue. Even without the internet, the sinking of the Titanic was the biggest news story in the world at the time, and remains a fascination to many today.
The events of the Titanic sinking have been popularized with dozens of books, documentaries and Hollywood feature films, including the 1997 blockbuster directed by James Cameron and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. While many are familiar with how the tragedy came to be—an iceberg puncturing the ship, radio protocols not allowing for proper warning, a shortage of lifeboats—the stories of the people who managed to nearly miss the disaster are lesser known.
Multiple prominent world figures were set to sail on the ship, but didn't quite make it on to the maiden voyage. After all, in the months leading up to the Titanic 's departing Southampton, UK for New York, the ship was extremely well publicized with the who's who of the early 1900s desperate to nab tickets.
Here's a list of seven well-known men who planned to sail on the Titanic , but never made it onboard.
Famous people who nearly boarded the Titanic but didn't
The founder of the Hershey's chocolate company, Milton Hershey , sent $300 to the White Star Line to reserve a pair of Titanic tickets for him and his wife in the spring of 1912. The couple famously spent most of their winters in the French Riviera and were set to sail on Titanic 's maiden voyage, but Hershey needed to get back to America on urgent business and ended up finding a spot on the German ship Amerika . That ship would end up sending warning messages to the Titanic about the dangerous amount of ice. Hershey's canceled check to the White Star Line can still be seen The Hershey Community Archives .
The inventor of the radio was also supposed to be on the Titanic 's maiden voyage after being given a free ticket. However, his stenographer got sick shortly before boarding the ship, according to the 1926 memoir of Marconi 's daughter, My Father Marconi . Marconi decided to head to the United States from Ireland three days earlier on the Lusitania , because he trusted their stenographer more than the one onboard the Titanic . Ironically, those who were saved from the Titanic disaster were rescued because of Marconi inventing the radio.
John Pierpoint Morgan —more commonly known as "J.P. Morgan" and namesake and founder of J.P. Morgan Private Bank—was present at the Titanic launch party in 1911 because he also founded the International Mercantile Marine, which owned the Titanic 's builder, White Star Line. He was set to embark on the maiden voyage, but at the last minute, decided to extend his stay in France. Historians have still not discovered the exact reason Morgan decided to continue his travels abroad, but having a few more weeks of European adventure likely saved his life.
Henry Clay Frick was the chairman of Carnegie Steele when the Titanic was built, so complimentary tickets were gifted to him and his wife. His wife sprained her ankle while they were touring Italy shortly before the voyage, and they remained on the continent to give her time to heal. Frick's suite went instead to White Star Line owner J. Bruce Ismay (played by Jonathan Hyde in the James Cameron movie). Ismay survived the sinking by getting on an early lifeboat, which earned him ridicule for the rest of his life.
George Washington Vanderbilt II
Biltmore
5. George Washington Vanderbilt II
The Vanderbilt name is famous for many reasons. Like the Rockefellers and Carnegies, the Vanderbilt family had a portfolio of railroad and steel businesses that helped create an empire. George Washington Vanderbilt II is most well known for commissioning the largest standing monument of Vanderbilt wealth — the Biltmore Estate in western North Carolina. In 1888, he oversaw the building of the 250-room mansion, which is now partially open to the public. In 1912, Vanderbilt and his wife had tickets to ride on the maiden voyage of the Titanic , but the couple were reportedly warned the trip could be dangerous and canceled their tickets a week before the ship was to set sail.
Theodore Dreiser , the famous 20th-century novelist, had traveled to Europe to collect stories for his memoir, A Traveler at Forty . He would later write in the book that he was looking forward to seeing the opulence of the Titanic to add to the novel. At the last minute, his publisher urged him to book passage on a smaller and cheaper ship that left Dover, England, two days before the Titanic . The decision ended up saving his life.
YMCA chairman and evangelist John R. Mott was one of several prominent society members offered a free ticket on the Titanic . However, he and his colleague decided to travel on the more humble ship, the Lapland . According to Mott biographer C. Howard Hopkins, when Mott arrived in New York and heard the news of the Titanic ship, he looked at his travel companion and said, "The Good Lord must have more work for us to do."
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