One of the most advertised events of the 1910’s was the so-called Unsinkable Titanic and it’s controversial sinking on April 14, 1912. When news of this British made luxury liner, weighing 46,000 gross tons reached American shores the press went wild. The idea of an unsinkable ship was bewildering. Then when the ship sank on her maiden voyage the press had a second hay-day. The sinking of the Titanic was a national event. It effected the 1910’s in several ways, 2 examples of this would be the death of American social icons, and the reforms made to ships technology and travel codes. (MSN Learning)The death of two admired Americans affected the 1910’s by turning the sinking of the Titanic into a national affair. Mr. Isidor Straus, one of the American millionaires killed on the titanic, operated a company that engaged in blockade running for the confederate states during the American Civil War. After the war he moved to New York and obtained R.H. Macy & Co. He also severed as Congressman for New York Tate in 1895. Mr. Straus was a social icon in America. His death saddened citizens across America. (Straus Encyclopedia Titantica) Also social icon Colonel John Jacob Astor IV was killed in the shipwreck. He wrote the novel A Journey in Other Worlds. He invented mechanical devices like the bicycle brake, turbine engine, and a pneumatic road-improver. Astor also built the Astoria Hotel. Under the staff of General Levi P. Morton he became Colonel during the Spanish-American War. Mr. Astor contributed vastly to America’s development. The country was deeply moved by his death. The decade of 1910 was effected by the loss of these and other social icons. (Astor Encyclopedia Titantica)The sinking of the Titanic directly contributed to the 1910s’ and subsequent years through reforms in ship policies and travel codes. When investigators of the shipwreck found that there were only enough lifeboats for...
