The Titanic has intrigued the public from the moment it tragically crashed into an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean and sank on April 15, 1912.
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Visits to the underwater site have been conducted in recent decades to retrieve artifacts, study the Titanic's gradual decay and simply lay eyes on the storied shipwreck, which has inspired a wealth of novels, plays, TV shows and films. "It is a story that has been continually retold in every decade since it happened," Thompson said, who cited the high-society passengers, the ship's unprecedented speed at the time, the high death toll and claims of being "unsinkable" among the reasons why it's retold over and over again.
The night of the sinking is considered "one of the great moments in the early history of radio," Thompson said. "It was a massive, massive story of the 20th century, which had plenty of stories.
Sopin said he personally was pulled in as a child by "an old headline in a newspaper" and later purchased an autograph from Millvina Dean, the last living survivor of the Titanic -- the first of some 400 pieces of Titanic memorabilia he has gone on to collect.
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