Titanic Sinking Anniversary: 17 Facts About Famed Ship And Its Tragic Ending

Saturday marks 105 years since the RMS Titanic sank on its maiden voyage from the United Kingdom to the United States, resulting in the death of more than 1,500 people and triggering decades of search for its wreckage. Nearly two-thirds of the ship's passengers and crew died in the early hours of April 15, 1912, while more than 700 lives were saved.

The Titanic began its journey April 10, 1912, and just four days into the trip, on the night of April 14, the ship hit an iceberg in the northern Atlantic Ocean. The tragic end of the luxurious passenger ship shocked the world and also inspired the creation of the 1997 blockbuster movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

Here are some interesting and lesser-known facts about the famous ship:

1. The Titanic was 882 feet and 9 inches long, and it displaced more than 50,000 tons.

2. Around 3,000 workers labored for two years to build the Titanic, the largest passenger steamship at the time, that many believed was "unsinkable." Nearly 250 workers were injured and two died in construction accidents, while six more died aboard the ship during its building.

3. About 100,000 people turned up to see the ship being moved, May 31, 1911, from where it was constructed to a berth where it was later fitted out.

4. Titanic accommodated 833 first class passengers, 614 second class passengers, and 1,006 third class passengers.

5. Of the 885 crew on board the ship, only 23 were female.

6. The ship featured a gymnasium, a squash court, a Turkish bath, a swimming pool and two libraries.

7. About 20 horses were required to carry the main anchor, which weighed 20 tons.

8. The iceberg that sank the Titanic had been floating around the north Atlantic for about 3,000 years and came from a glacier in Greenland.

9. Titanic's wreckage was discovered more than 70 years after the ship sank, at a depth of 12,000 feet below the surface of the ocean and split into two pieces.

10. The wreckage was discovered during a 1985 expedition, about 13.2 miles from the ship’s last known location.

11. It took about 160 minutes, or two hours and 40 minutes, for the ship to sink after it hit the iceberg.

12. Millvina Dean, the last living survivor of the Titanic, died in 2009.

13. Nearly 330 bodies were pulled from the Atlantic while some were too damaged to be taken back to the shore.

14. Most of the victims died of hypothermia, in which the low temperature of the body causes internal organs to fail.

15. Nine dogs were on board the ill-fated ship, of which two – a Pomeranian and a Pekinese – were rescued.

16. The temperature of the ocean water around the time of the sinking was about 28 degrees Fahrenheit (-2 degrees Celsius).

17. On the day of the collision, the wireless operator aboard the Titanic received six iceberg warnings, which many believe were ignored, leading to the tragedy.