110 years after it sank, Titanic continues to capture the public's imagination

Although it sank 110 years ago during its maiden voyage, the RMS Titanic looms as large in the public's imagination today as it ever did.

The stories associated with the great White Star Line ocean liner have moved seamlessly from traditional media — books and films — to social media where they continue to captivate.

Titanic struck an iceberg while speeding toward New York. It sank 700 nautical miles (1,296 kilometres) east of Halifax on April 15, 1912.

Roger Marsters, curator of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, says Titanic's connection to Halifax was almost incidental as it was the nearest mainland port from which a recovery could be mounted.

Titanic had a grip on the collective imagination prior to James Cameron's 1997 film, Marsters said. But, by attaching star-crossed lovers to a story of hubris and extravagance, the film fixed the events in the public's imagination.

"We have people from all over the world coming to Fairview Lawn and to Mount Olivet to visit the graves of people they've never met and have never known, but with whom they feel a strong connection because of the powerful, imaginative grip of the Titanic story," he said.

As the port where recovered bodies were brought to in the wake of the tragedy, Halifax is home to 150 Titanic graves — the most in the world.

Marsters said the Titanic story seems to refresh itself with each generation. From the point of view of the museum, it is a way to bring new people to maritime history.

Rafael Avila, a 32-year-old social media personality better known online as the Titanic Guy, spends his time presenting trivia about Titanic and correcting inaccurate information about the ship he sees online.

His TikTok channel has over 600,000 subscribers and almost 34 million likes.

Avila said he was seven in 1997 when he saw a documentary about a ship that sank and he asked his father what it was about. 

His father told him it was about a famous ship that was one of the biggest in the world and was brand new when it sank.

Fascinated by the story, Avila said he convinced his parents to take him to see the popular film in December of that year and that solidified his interest.

Avila said that the Titanic story was largely forgotten in the years after the sinking.