April 15, 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the luxury liner RMS Titanic. The largest ship afloat in the world at the time — and widely believed to be "unsinkable" — the Titanic left Southampton, England on her maiden voyage to New York City on April 10. Four days later, the ship collided with an iceberg late in the evening of April 14, and sank in the Atlantic Ocean at approximately 2:20 in the morning of the 15th. The Titanic's passengers included some of the world's wealthiest people, including John Jacob Astor, Isidor Straus, Benjamin Guggenheim, and the 'Unsinkable' Molly Brown. Of these, only Brown survived. In all, 1,517 of the approximatley 2,200 people aboard were lost, mainly because the ship only carried enough lifeboats to accomodate a third of the passengers and crew. Although the wreck of the liner was discovered on the bottom of the sea in 1985, it is gradually disintegrating. Thousand of artifacts, however, have been displayed in museums around the world. To learn more about the Titanic check out some of the many resources available in the Library's collection. A selected list follows:

Books

The band that played on: the extraordinary story of the 8 musicians who went down with the Titanic by Steve Turner — The story of"that glorious band" of eight musicians who played on as the Titanic slipped deeper and deeper into the Atlantic Ocean.

Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: The Titanic's First-class Passengers and Their World by Brewster, Hugh — Memorable portraits of the ship's most notable passengers.

Lost voices from the Titanic: the definitive oral history by Nick Barratt — A compelling history based on archival material and eyewitness accounts.

A night to remember by Walter Lord — A riveting minute-by-minute account of the sinking. A classic.

101 things you thought you knew about the Titanic— but didn't! by Tim Maltin and Eloise Aston — The truth behind the most common beliefs and misconceptions about the disaster.

The other side of the night: the Carpathia, the California and the night the Titanic was lost by Daniel Allen Butler — The story of the two steamships who picked up the Titanic's distress signal — only one of which came to help.

The rough guide to the Titanic by Greg Ward — Covers the passengers, the crash, the discovery of the wreck, and the conspiracy theories.

Shadow of the Titanic: the extraordinary stories of those who survived by Andrew Wilson — The aftermath of the disaster, drawn from letters, memoirs, diaries and interviews with survivors' family members.

Titanic: an illustrated history by text by Don Lynch; paintings by Ken Marschall; introduction by Robert D. Ballard — The Titanic from construction to launch with many illustrations, photographs and full-color art.

Titanic survivor: the newly discovered memoirs of Violet Jessop who survived both the Titanic and Britannic disasters by Violet Jessop; introduced, edited, and annotated by John Maxtone-Graham — The inspiring story of Violet Jessop who survived both the sinking of the Titanic and the sinking of the hospital ship Britannic in 1916.

Titanic tragedy: a new look at the lost liner by John Maxtone-Graham — Covers some lesser known stories about that night including survivors’ accounts of the events, the role of wireless telecommunication, the ship's design and construction and the rendezvous with the rescue ship Carpathia.

Voyagers of the Titanic: passengers, sailors, shipbuilders, aristocrats, and the worlds they came from by Richard Davenport-Hines — Detailed biographies of practically everyone involved with the ship, including the sailors, the shipbuilders and the most (and least) famous passengers.

DVDs

Molly Brown [videodisc]: an American legend by produced by Greystone Communications, Inc. for A & E Network — The life of Margaret Tobin Brown, suffragist, feminist, philanthropist and Titanic survivor.

A night to remember [videodisc] — Preceding the blockbuster 1997 film Titanic by 40 years, this film is a faithful re-creation of the event and covers the life and death of the doomed ship from it's launch to it's sinking. Starring Kenneth More, David McCallum and Honor Blackman. Based on the book by Walter Lord.

Titanic [videodisc]: the complete story by Greystone Communications — Uses newsreels, diaries, and interviews with surviving passengers to document the disaster. Narrated by David McCallum.

Titanic's final moments [videodisc]: missing pieces — The story of what actually happened after the ship hit the iceberg, and how it broke apart and sank.