Historian shares the 'Mysteries of the Titanic'

*Editor's note: Our thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives in the tragic accident of the Titan submarine. The Tiffin-Seneca Public Library welcomed historian Thomas Dowling Tuesday evening, who presented an interactive program for children and adults, titled 'Mysteries of the Titanic', as part of the 2023 Summer Reading Program. Dowling discussed different aspects of The Titanic and its passengers, including some of the unknown things about the historic event. Each mystery also revealed a fun, interactive element of his presentation. Dowling explained how after 111 years after sinking, the world is still fascinated by the story of The Titanic. He then talked about the way the ship sank and what could have been avoided to prevent it from happening—such as the captain turning the ship later than he should have, the structure of the boat impacting how it sank and lack of training in case of an emergency. The program follows the life of the Titanic from the inception of the idea to build it to the iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, and the results of the Board of Inquiry. Over forty errors and circumstances were presented to show that the event could have been prevented. Dowling also provided data on the history of the ship—such as the information provided to the passengers, copies of postal telegrams with ice warnings, what cabins were like inside of the boat, a transcript of register for transmission, recovered items, and how many passengers survived and died. According to information provided by Dowling, the Titanic currently lies 41.43 '57 north, 49.56' 49 west, 1,246 miles from New York City. This tragedy was truly a "perfect storm of circumstances," Dowling said on his website, www.tomphoolery.com/. For more information on the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library or for a complete list of summer reading events, please call (419) 447-3751 or log onto www.tiffinsenecalibrary.org.