10. A Cancelled Emergency Drill

Here’s one of our most interesting Titanic facts: on April 14, the day the Titanic hit the iceberg, an emergency drill had, ironically, been scheduled. However, due to reasons that are still unknown, Captain Edward John Smith decided to cancel the drill.

Lifeboat drills, a common practice among ocean liners, were (and still are) important for both the crew and the passengers to prepare themselves for what they hoped would be a situation they’d never encounter.

Obviously, it’s not a certainty that the emergency drill would have actually made any difference, especially considering the fact that the liner’s lifeboats could only load about one-third of the passengers, but there’s a common belief that carrying out the drill could have saved many of the lives lost.

For more Titanic facts, here‘s a book that tells the story of those who survived the tragic event.