1908-1909
Construction of the Olympic and Titanic begins in Belfast, Ireland, at the Harland and Wolff shipyards.
1910
October 20: The Olympic is successfully launched.
1911
May 31: The hull of the Titanic is successfully launched. 10 months of fitting out follow.
June: The Olympic leaves on her maiden voyage.
September 20: The Olympic, outbound from Southampton, has a major collision with H.M.S. Hawke, a British Royal Navy cruiser. Repairs made back at Harland and Wolff delay the fitting out of the Titanic one month.
1912
January: Sixteen wooden lifeboats, along with four collapsible canvas-sided boats, are fitted on board the Titanic.
March 31: The outfitting of the Titanic is complete.
April 10: Wednesday - Sailing day 9:30 to 11:30 am:
Passengers arrive in Southampton and board ship.
Noon: The Titanic casts off and begins her maiden voyage. She has a near miss with the steamer New York caused by the suction of Titanic's enourmous displacement.
6:30 pm: The Titanic rides anchor in Cherbourg, France.
8:10pm: The Titanic leaves for Queenstown, Ireland.
April 11: Thursday1:30pm: Anchored off of Roche's Point, Queenstown, Ireland. Francis Browne, a Jesuit seminarian, disembarks and takes the last known photograph of the Titanic for the next 73 years. The Titanic leaves Queenstown for New York.
- 10:50pm:
- The Californian sends a wireless message directly to the Titanic telling them that they were stopped and surrounded by ice.
- 11:39pm:
- The lookouts, Fredrick Fleet and Reginald Lee, see an iceberg dead ahead. First Officer William Murdoch orders the engines reversed and the wheel hard to starboard. The Titanic slowly turns to port but it is too late. The iceberg strikes the Titanic on the starboard side of her bow. Murdoch activates the ship's watertight doors.
- 11:50pm:
- Captain Smith asks designer Thomas Andrews and the ship's carpenter to conduct a visual inspection of the damage. Water has poured in and risen 14 feet in the front part of the ship.
- 12:00am:
- Captain Smith is told that the ship can only stay afloat for a couple of hours. He orders radio operators Harold Bride and Jack Phillips to send "CQD", the distress call.
- 12:05am:
- Orders are given to uncover the lifeboats and to get the passengers and crew ready on deck. But there is only enough room in the lifeboats for about half of the estimated 2,228 people on board.
- 12:25am:
- The order is given to start loading the lifeboats with women and children first. The Carpathia, southeast of the Titanic by about 58 miles, picks up the distress call and immediately heads, full speed, to the rescue.
- 12:45am:
- The first of the lifeboats is safely lowered away. It can carry 65 people but pulls away from the Titanic carrying only 28! The first distress rocket is fired. Eight rockets will be fired throughout the night.
- 1:15am:
- Water begins to reach the Titanic's name on the bow. The tilt of the deck grows increasingly steeper. Lifeboats now begin to leave more fully loaded.
- 1:40am:
- Most of the forward lifeboats have been lowered. Passengers now move towards the stern of the ship.
- 2:05am:
- The last lifeboat leaves. There are now over 1,500 people left on board the sinking ship. The tilt of the Titanic's decks grows steeper by the minute.
- 2:17am:
- The last radio call for help is sent out. Captain Smith tells his crew "It's every man for himself!"The Titanic's bow plunges under. Many passengers jump over board. The forward funnel collapses, crushing a number of people.
- 2:18am:
- Items in the ship are heard crashing through walls and falling toward the sinking bow. The ship's lights blink once and then go out. Several survivors see the ship break in two. The bow section sinks.
- 2:20am:
- The Titanic's broken off stern section settles back into the water, becoming level for a few moments. Slowly it fills with water and again it tilts its end high into the air, before sinking into the sea. Those struggling in the icy water slowly freeze to death.
- 3:30am:
- The rescue ship, Carpathia's rockets are sighted by the survivors in the lifeboats.
- 4:10am:
- The first lifeboat is picked up by Carpathia.
- 8:50am:
- The Carpathia leaves the area bound for New York, carrying 705 survivors.
- April 18:
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- 9:00pm:
- The Carpathia reaches New York.
- April 19 to May 25:
- An inquiry into the Titanic disaster is conducted by the United States Senate.
- April 22 to May 15:
- Several ships are sent to the disaster site to search for bodies. A total of 328 bodies were found floating around the area.
- May 2 to July 3:
- The British Inquiry is conducted.
- April:
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As a result of the Titanic disaster, the International Ice Patrol is created to guard the North Atlantic sea lanes.
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