smithsk: Titanic

Showing posts with label Titanic. Show all posts

Monday, April 8, 2013

America's Story (part 12) - Death and Taxes

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
Benjamin Franklin

No kidding!

And that anecdote is never so obvious as in April, and especially ....

* April 15th *

And that date - April 15th - is a dark day in American history in many ways.

A triple dark day!

And those dark days all started the night before - April 14th.

Let's start with ...

* Death *

The 19th century:

The dark days of the Civil War seemed over, as General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox on April 9, 1965. [reference: Surrender at Appomattox, 1865]

April 14, 1965 was to be a good day. In fact it was Good Friday. And President Lincoln was enjoying a night out at the theater when this happened:

Then came death, as President Lincoln passed away the following morning on April 15, 1865 - a victim of one of the most infamous assassinations in American history. [reference: President Lincoln dies — History.com This Day in History — 4/15/1865]

The 20th century:

The Titanic embarked on her maiden voyage - a luxurious trip from Southhampton, England across the Atlantic to New York City. Among the famous first class passengers - American multi-millionaire John Jacob Astor IV and the "unsinkable" Mrs. Margaret "Molly" Brown.

Before midnight on April 14, 1912, the Titanic hit an iceberg, and the wee hours of April 15, 1912, this happened.

So the unsinkable Titanic sank into the North Atlantic. Then came death as only 700 for the 1500 survived. [reference: RMS Titanic hits iceberg — History.com This Day in History — 4/14/1912]

Now for another dark side - the following year, 1913 came ...

* Taxes *

The 16th amendment passed, establishing the precedent of the government collecting taxes on income. Ostensibly this was only to "tax the rich" - one percent of the population of one percent of their income. [reference: Our Documents - 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Federal Income Tax (1913)]

We know how that turned out. Currently, taxable federal income is from 10 to almost 40 percent - hitting the middle class. [reference: Tax Brackets (Federal Income Tax Rates) 2000 through 2013]

As April 15th is the individual filing deadline [reference: File Your Taxes | USA.gov], many burn the midnight oil on April 14 to get their taxes done. April 14 and 15 are not good days.

The Beatles commented on some the inconsistency and unfairness of the tax system in the lyrics of their song - the Tax Man.

Taxes! Benjamin Franklin was right as its certainty. And even more so this year, Tax Freedom Day will come late - April 18, 2013. [reference: Tax Freedom Day® 2013 is April 18, Five Days Later Than Last Year | Tax Foundation] (Missed April 15 by a few days.)

Death and Taxes as well as Benjamin Franklin are part of America's Story

And next post, I promise, will not be such as a downer. But death and taxes are not exactly cheery topics - but we get through it and carry on.

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Other posts in this series:

America's Story (part 9) - A Tale of Two Revolutions (2012)

America's Story (part 10) - Sergeant York (2012)

America's Story (part 11) - Sacajawea (2012)

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Photo from: everystockphoto.com - Death and Taxes

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

What a Ham I am (part 6) - 100 years of Ham Radio and the Titanic

Ham radio is 100 years old in the US - as celebrated in this February article:

* Ham Radio USA - 100 Years and Counting

And also 100 years ago, amateur radio rendezvoused with headline disaster on ...

April 15, 1912 ...

when the unthinkable happened to the unsinkable.

And on that date, the Titanic - which "God Himself could not sink this ship" - was sunk by an iceberg. (In all fairness, the Titanic was not advertised as unsinkable.)

So much went wrong that cost more than 1500 lives. Not enough lifeboats. The design that could not take a five compartment breach. Lack of uniform wireless radio procedures - as wireless was in its infancy.

Much has been written about this disaster and many movies have been made about it. The top grossing film Titanic (1997) likewise has been released in 3D for the centennial. The following scene so captures the catastrophe while the passengers stood on the brink of eternity:

As mentioned in a post on the Titanic two years ago -

* Titanic Voyage - 98 years ago -

my grandmother had attempted to board the Carpathia in 1912 as she was immigrating to America. The Carpathia was out of 2nd class tickets. Grandma could not afford 1st class. And she wasn't going in steerage. So she waited till 1913 - a year before World War One started. Lucky her. Luck me.

But it was that very voyage of the Carpathia, which Grandma had attempted to board, that had rescued the survivors of the Titanic. Oh, what stories she could have told. And it's another what might have happened.

Back to the Radio Shack ...

As the Titanic was sinking ... and most passengers did not know this - the shock of the collision too slight - the night too calm and beautiful to forebode of death - the radio shack broadcast the general distress call to all vessels for immediate assistance -

CQD - CQD - CQD

The operator of the nearby SS Californian had put down his ear phones and retired for the night. And the crew did not recognize the distress flares sent by the Titanic. But the call for help changed the courses of other ships, including the Carparthia.

For a good reference for the radio assistance in the Titanic disaster -

* THE TITANIC RADIO PAGE

Amateur Radio and the Titanic ...

Half way across the Atlantic, in a South Wales bedroom, Artie Moore was one of the first to learn that the Titanic was sinking, two day before the news got to the United Kingdom. The local police first dismissed Artie's report ... that was until the news reached the British press.

* Museum remembers radio enthusiast who heard Titanic’s call for help from his Valleys shack

Maybe there was something to this amateur radio thing? This perhaps was the beginning of Ham Radio in assisting in disasters and catastrophes.

Aftermath of the Titanic ...

After the rescue of the Titanic survivors, the blame game began as well as a 100 years of the inquiries, documentaries, articles, theories, historical accounts, stories, movies, ....

And as in any disaster came new rules and regulations - a more orderly approach to radio and the air waves. - which was a good thing.

* How the Titanic disaster pushed Uncle Sam to "rule the air"

Lesson learned - in any disaster - especially one of Titanic proportions - Ham Radio can be so important.

The future?

Who knows how many Titanic-like disasters will come. But in this life, disasters do come. Natural or man made - systems will fail, various communication infrastructure brought down. How will we deal with it?

May the Hams be there to stand in the gap!

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Posts on this subject:

Titanic Voyage - 98 years ago (2010)

Previous post in the "What a Ham I am" series:

What a Ham I am (Part 1) - moving on up! (2011)

What a Ham I am (Part 2) - When lightening strikes (2011)

What a Ham I am (Part 3) - Hams make Contact (2011)

What a Ham I am (Part 4): Have you hugged your Elmer today? (2011)

What a Ham I am (Part 5) - Winter in the Rockies (2012)

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A sample of some interesting Titanic sites:

History of The Titanic (titanic-facts.com)

The unseen Titanic: Photos reveal life aboard doomed ship (FoxNews.com)

Titanic : Resonance and Reality (scientificamerican.com)

Unseen Titanic (ngm.nationalgeograpthic.com)

The Unlearned Lesson of the Titanic (theatlantic.com)

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Photo from Wikipedia: Titanic

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Titanic Voyage - 98 years ago

It took her three tries. That's what my grandmother had told me. Finally in 1913, she immigrated from Austria-Hungary to America.

First try, Grandma got scared and turned back at the Rock of Gibraltar. Next time in 1912, she tried to board the Carpathia. She could not afford first class. No way would she go in steerage. Second class was all sold out.

If Grandma had made that trip on her second attempt, what a story she could have told. That particular voyage on that ship was the one that rescued the survivors of the Titanic.

Many movies have been made about this ill-fated voyage of this "unsinkable" ship, such as:

Titanic (1953) provides a powerful last scene.

A Night to Remember (1958) - a film about the final night of the RMS Titanic

The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) - a musical about one of the Titanic's most colorful survivors

Titanic (1997) - a box office record breaker

Survivors allege that the musicians on the Titanic played "Nearer my God to Thee" to calm the passengers while the ship was sinking. This hymn sung by the passengers and crew in the 1997 film version conveys how quickly our focus can change when we realize we are about to step into eternity. For those perishing, social standing and wealth, or lack of it, suddenly seem unimportant.

The Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage, April 10, 1912. It hit an iceberg close to midnight on April 14. It sank over two hours later in the early morning of April 15. Of her 2,228 passengers and crew members who set sail, only 705 survived.

This happened 98 years ago.

For more information: check out Titanic Facts

photo from everystockphoto.com: TITANIC DISASTER

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