The RMS Titanic was a great passenger ship. It was beautifully crafted, and was named “practically unsinkable.” American entertainment, such as baseball, football, basketball, the Olympics, and motion pictures, also played a huge part in what America has become today.
With the introduction of steel as a building material, it became possible to construct larger, taller, and stronger buildings. This new building with steel idea also applied to the shipbuilding industry. They also began to create larger and stronger ships. One of the ships made, the RMS Titanic, was built to be the largest of its day.
Construction of the Titanic began in the year 1908 and was completed in 1911, but wasn’t furnished and ready to carry passengers until the year 1912. The beautiful ship was made with state-of-the art watertight compartments and remote-activated hatches. This was so that they could close of specific sections of the ship if water began to flood into those compartments. Because of this genius idea, one of the local magazines of the day deemed it, “practically unsinkable.”
The Titanic departed from Southampton, England on April 10th, 1912. It was traveling to New York City. Captain Edward Smith pushed on at full speed, planning to sail across the Atlantic Ocean in just 6 days. As the Titanic was nearing the coast of Newfoundland on the evening of April 14th, the ship received many warning messages from other ships passing through the area.
Soon the passengers of the Titanic learned that the ship was not in fact unsinkable, like the magazines had assured them. The lookout crew, working without the aid of binoculars, were unable to detect the nearing iceberg before it was too late. The captain attempted to steer around the huge mound of ice, but was unable to miss it completely.
The water poured into the compartments too quickly, and the front of the ship began to sink. The Titanic didn’t have enough life boats for everyone, so the captain made the announcement that women and children would be loaded onto the boats first. Very few men survived the shipwreck that night.
The Titanic’s grim story has served as a warning to many over the last century and resulted in increased safety requirements. Though technology has continued to improve over the last century, many accidents still occur. The Titanic was a beautiful ship, and marked a great time in history.
In modern America, the entertainment industry has grown to enormous popularity. Many of the aspects that make today’s entertainment possible, weren’t even invented until the end of the 1800’s. The invention baseball, basketball, football, and movies all took place at the end of the 19th century.
Of all the sports played in the United States, baseball is the one nicknamed, “America’s Pastime.” Early forms of the game go far back to the beginning of the 1800’s, but the first version of the game, with official rules, took place in the year 1845. The first profession, traveling baseball team was the Cincinnati Red Stockings, organized in 1869.
American football can be traced back to the game of rugby, a simpler and faster game played by many countries around the world. Football was developed in America, and began as a collage sport. The sport became a profession game around the 1900’s, but wasn’t recognized much until the year 1959. Football, both professional and collegiate, has gone on to the most popular sport in America.
Motion pictures, also known as movies, are even more popular than any sport. The first motion pictures were short films made by a man named Thomas Edison in the 1890’s. By the 1900, others were captivated with the idea and began making short movies of their own. One of the first successes was The Great Train Robbery, which was released in 1903.
Baseball, football, basketball, the Olympics, motion pictures, and many more amazing things are the entertainment that helps make up the great country of America. Many more sports, competitions, and photography await Americans as they seek out entertainment.
The Titanic and American entertainment are a great piece of today’s history. The Titanic, a beautiful ship, suffered a tragic wreck. American entertainment still lives on, and we see it every day of our lives.
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