1910s - Disasters

Disasters

  • The RMS Titanic, a British ocean liner which was the largest and most elegant ship at that time, strikes an iceberg and sinks in the North Atlantic during its maiden voyage on 15 April 1912. 1,517 people perished in the disaster.
  • On 7 May 1915, the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania is torpedoed by U-20, a German U-boat, off the Old Head of Kinsale in Ireland and sinks in 18 minutes. 1,198 lives are lost, including 128 Americans. The sinking proves to be a factor in the American decision to enter World War I two years later.
  • From 1918 through 1920, the Spanish flu killed 20 to 100 million people worldwide.
  • In 1916, the Netherlands is hit by a North Sea storm that floods the lowlands and kills 10,000 people.


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Famous quotes containing the word disasters:

    “Those who escape death in great disasters are surely destined for good fortune later.”
    —Chinese proverb.

    “Well had the boding tremblers learned to trace
    The day’s disasters in his morning face.”
    —Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774)

    “The formula for achieving a successful relationship is simple: you should treat all disasters as if they were trivialities but never treat a triviality as if it were a disaster.”
    —Quentin Crisp (b. 1908)