One of my favorite topics I learned about in history class was the sinking of the Titanic.
As everybody knows, the Titanic was on its way from the United Kingdom to New York City when it struck an iceberg in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean and sank. This tragedy, which took place in 1912, took the lives of more than 1,500 people, including passengers and crew members.
I find the Titanic's short-lived journey to be absolutely fascinating. Beyond the incredible nostalgia factor involved, there is so much mystery still shrouded around this historical event. And just like this chalkboard from 1917 that was unearthed in an Oklahoma City classroom, the occasional artifact will emerge from the Titanic's voyage that will completely transport you back to that time.
So when I saw what seemingly insignificant item from the Titanic was up for auction, I absolutely had to know more. Scroll through to see just how incredible this small item is to have survived this historical tragedy.
Do you find the story of the Titanic as fascinating as we do? Let us know in the comments!
h/t: Henry Aldridge & Son
When the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, one of the ships that responded to the distress call was the SS Carpathia, which ended up rescuing over 700 survivors. Aboard the Carpathia was the Fenwick family.
The Fenwicks — shown on the right in this photo — kept several photographs, a journal, and one unusual item from that tragic day: That item, which is now up for auction over 100 years later, is a biscuit from the Titanic.
This biscuit is being called "the world's most valuable biscuit." The Spillers and Bakers Pilot biscuit was part of a survival kit that would have been in each of the Titanic's lifeboats. The biscuit was kept by the Fenwicks in a photographic envelope all these years with the note, "Pilot biscuit from Titanic lifeboat, April 1912."
This incredible and unusual piece of history will be auctioned off and is expected to draw between $12,000 and $16,000.
In addition to the biscuit, the Fenwicks' journal will also be auctioned off. The journal contains a first-hand account of the rescue of the Titanic survivors.
This entry was written on April 15th, hours after the Titanic went down:
"5am. Awakened by hearing man's voice. 'Titanic gone down. We are rescuing passengers and are surrounded by icebergs.' This is time to be up and doing. Going on deck we found boats at our side crowded with those rescued plus other boats coming from all quarters, just beyond and on all sides of us… were the 'bergs'."
Mr. Fenwick's entry goes on to say, "Took up about 700 from 19 boats, 14 of which were put on Carpathia decks and 5 were set adrift. The scenes pictured were long to be remembered."
While the sinking of the Titanic remains a tragic and fascinating part of history, these incredible surviving artifacts are an amazing glimpse into the time period and the epic events of that fateful day.
Would you want to have a fascinating piece of history in your home, like the "world's most valuable biscuit" or Mr. Fenwick's journal? Let us know in the comments.
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