I felt disturbed when I read about the titanic voyage but I therefore show my condolences to all the familes that victimized and those the incidence befell them.I love u all n God bless you in abundance but remember with him all things are possible

Here’s yet another candidate for our list: Charles Jourjon. While not a well-known name in the U.S., he was a co-founder and head of the Éclair Film Company and a major figure in early French cinema. According to at least one report, he had a reservation on the Titanic but missed the ship and ended up crossing on the French liner Savoie. An interesting coincidence is that one of the survivors of the Titanic disaster, the silent film actress Dorothy Gibson, was under contract to Éclair’s U.S. studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Within days of her return she was starring as herself in a heavily fictionalized film called “Saved from the Titanic.” Released just a month after the sinking, it was the first movie about the Titanic and the only one to star a survivor. Unfortunately no copies of the film are believed to have survived.

The article says "The man behind the Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar, Hershey’s Kisses, Hershey’s Syrup, and the Pennsylvania city that bears his name…." Hershey is not a city. In fact, technically there is no such place as Hershey. The town generally known as Hershey, PA is just part of Derry Township, PA.

I READ THE HISTORY AB0UT TITANIC......I FEEL REALY SAD ABOUT IT........:(

This website did not help me at all GET RID OF THIS WERBITE THIS WEBSITE SUCKS

sank on the day of my dads b-day

101yrs after the tragedy of the RMS TITANIC remain fresh in our memories, expecially when one watches the titanic movie. One can do nothing but to apreciate d effort of those who explore d story

How fortunate that for some odd reason these people had the intestinal fortitude to not go on the 'TITANIC'Boy What Luck,for them WOW!!!!!!!!

Marconi should've sent Tesla a thank you for getting credit of saving lives. Poor Tesla gets so overlooked in history. He invented most of the important inventions and others stole it and took credit. It would've been karma had Marconi actually took the Titanic.

There's an old blues song called "Farewell Titanic" that tells the story of African American boxing champ Jack Johnson being REFUSED passage on the Titanic due to his race. If this story is true, why wasn' he included on the list of famous people who missed that fateful voyage?

Your web site is amazing! Thank you.

I love the Titanic it was a interesting story. I feel so bad for the people who died.

Well, here's one woman included (probably the harpist!), from http://lso.co.uk/: "On 28 March 1912, the LSO [London Symphony Orchestra] embarked on a famous three-week tour to the United States of America and Canada, the first British orchestra to visit those distant shores. Legend has it that the LSO narrowly avoided sailing on the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic. The tour started a week early due to the rescheduling of some of the concerts - no doubt an inconvenience at the time, but because of this new travel plans had to be made. Tickets for the Titanic were exchanged for the SS Baltic. The tour was conducted by Artur Nikisch who, with his band of ninety-nine men and one woman, travelled across North America in a special eight-car Pullman train. Visits were made to New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, St Louis, Kansas City, Wichita, Des Moines, Madison, Milwaukee, Oxford OH, Cincinnati, Toledo, Detroit, Buffalo, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Boston and Providence."

I read somewhere that Harry Vardon, the greatest English golfer ever, also was scheduled to travel on the Titanic and cancelled late.

One of the most famous religious figures of the 20th century to miss the journey on the Titanic was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá http://www.brightwind.org/faith-and-science/2012-the-titanic-and-abdul-baha/

you do realize Marconi stole Tesla's invention and his patents were overruled.

wow

You other commenters seriously need to spell-check.

history of titanic is reallay sorrowful.i also miss it

why was the ice burge thier

My great aunt was in England at the time of the Titanic sailing and she knew many on board the ship, who wanted her to travel back with them. Allegedly her luggage was on board, but she was not. She was the Executive Secretary of the Art Students League of NYC for 40 years as well as Asst. Secr. of the Architectural League/Guild of NYC and died in 1934 - if memory serves me correctly. She was also an artist who painted mostly seascapes on the coast of Massachusetts. Her grandfather Edmund Shaw Simpson was the Actor/Manager of the old Park Theatre in NYC for 40+ years, bringing talent (Barrymores, etc.) from England to the United States; his portrait hangs in the Museum of the City of NY; he died in 1849; her father was an Episcopal priest in Newark, NJ, Bloomington,IL and later in Oakland, CA.

Thank God that he missed the Voyage and thanks to his friend who advice him not to board.

I work for one of Henry Clay Frick's descendants, one of the best bosses I've ever had. I'm very glad he and his wife didn't make that journey!

oh these facts are awesome in my opinoin.

Titanic was a great ship it's very intresting hestery titanic it's really great ship.i lov tath..........

Too bad about Frick.

$300 was 10% for a first class passage for 2. Very expensive for 100 years ago. That would be what today? $50,000? 100,000? The Titanic notwithstanding, first class ship passage was a very civilized way to travel. Of course everything was more civilized back then.

In the book "How Photography Revealed and Shaped an Extraordinary life" Lincoln Thru the Lens,by Martin Sandler. He shows a morgue photo of John Wilkes Booth from National Archives. Is this a valid photo?

that is ju7st so sad my great great great grandpa was the captain. And he died. rest in peace great great great grandpa. love you so much. u mwill always be in my heart even though i never meet u. u r so brave grandapa love you sos so so much.

Five time British Open Champion, Harry Vardon, was scheduled to play in the 1912 U.S. Open along with a promotional tour. He was forced to cancel his reservation on the Titanic after being diagnosed with tuberculosous, which sidelined him for nearly a year. The following year he made a historic appearance, losing the 1913 U.S. Open in a playoff to the young upstart, Francis Ouimet. The next year Harry Vardon won his sixth British Open Championship, a record that still stands today. His life story was a main theme in the movie, The Greatest Game Ever Played.

I am writing a novel about the titanic and these were perfect people to include in the book so this was really helpful thanks!

Dear Smithsonian, I appreciated reading this entry (as well as many entries listed on smithsonianmag.com). I check it on a daily basis. In regards to this particular entry, I have seen the check for the Titanic mentioned for Milton S. Hershey, and seeing how it is the 100 anniversary of the catastrophe, I find it very fitting to mention those that perished and those that survived and continued to do great things. However, I feel obliged to point out one item. You neglected to mention Milton S. Hershey's true legacy beyond the Hershey chocolate company (as well as town, and theme park), the Milton Hershey School. The Milton Hershey School is a private philanthropic (pre-K through 12) boarding school in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Originally named the Hershey Industrial School, the school was originally established for impoverished, healthy, Caucasian, male orphans, while today it serves students of various backgrounds currently serving 1,818 students, with plans to grow to 2,100 students by 2013. A member of CORE: Coalition for Residential Education, it is the largest residential education program in the US. Sincerely, Seneca A proud Alumnus of Milton Hershey School

Elle: Cheyenne's family history, including 7 generations since 1912, is plausible if you use real dates and work it backwards. Let's guess that Cheyenne is 20 years old. Born in 1992. While age 20 is a bit young for becoming a mother now, it's not impossible by any means. If all the ancestors were 20 when they gave birth: Mother born 1972 Grandmother born 1952 Great Grandmother born 1932 Grandmother's grandmother born 1912 Voila!

i love the titanic i now evrithing about the titanic!

Regarding "Marconi's invention" of wireless radio, he stole the credit rightly due Nikola Tesla. In 1943, the Supreme Court belatedly recognized Tesla as the first to patent wireless radio.

Good article.......loved the pictures.

See this is the kind of stuff that makes me chuckle: I bunch of famous people who could of died in a historic tragedy but instead missed their deaths.

I love Milton Hersey he's awesome his candy was e.t the movie not kidding

good

ummm Cheyenne, if what you are saying is true, your family would have had 7 generations in 100 years.....

i wish the titanic was still sailing the seas.

Another possible addition to the list: The Chinese art dealer C. T. Loo (1880-1957) also planned to take the Titanic but missed it, according to an article this past week in The New York Times.

There's a Titanic story in my family too. My grandmother's grandmother's mother and her family were going to come here from Germany, but she was pregnant with my grandmother's grandmother. They had to decide between going on the Titanic while she was pregnant which would be cheaper as they wouldn't have to pay passage for the baby as well or wait and go on a different ship after she had the baby which would make it more comfortable for her. They ended up waiting until the baby was born, and here I am today!

My German/Russian grandfather, George Mischel wanted to sail on the Titanic, but lacked financial means. Instead, he rented an oar boat and rowed until he bumped into Plymouth Rock. It only took him 2 days because of the hurrican-force winds that literally "flew" him over. The man who rented him the row-boat was none other than Kaiser Wilhelm's third eldest son.

Guess there weren't any prominent women who missed the boat. I know all of the important "people" in history are men, right?

Very interesting. I'm glad this was published so we can know more about the Titanic and people who missed the trip. Thanks. I like this kind of information.

I believe that the Unsinkable Molly Brown was on the voyage but left soon enough to be rescued.

Interesting to think of how different the world might be had these people been lost with the Titanic. Is the person asking Why the pics in B&W really that ignorant??

Ok Smithsonian let's see what you're really made of. I was enrolled at Milton Hershey School from 1965 to 1970. Let me preface this by saying that I believe things are much different for the students there now. At that time I was the victim of repeated sadistic beatings from cruel houseparents,(just one really)the husband. I will not name names but teachers also joined in the fun from time to time and similar to prisoners of war all were made to watch as an example. This only scratches the surface of abuse at that time and my experience was 6th through 10th grades. There were also kind and wonderful people that would treat young boys correctly, but far too many bad ones went unchecked for years. I know Milton Hershey would not condone this but he was dead by then. It's hard to say whether or not his good fortune on missing Titanic outweighs what happened to many young boys there in the early years. He was a genuine philanthrapist but he'd have done cartwheels in his grave over things that were done to innocent children. Let's see if you'll post this and not chicken out.

Too bad JP Morgan did not go down with the Titanic before he decided to scare the country into a recession before his alterior motives went into play that started the Federal Reserve bank. Along with the Vanderbilts and so on. I'm just saying.

If all the people who claimed they had an ancestor who "just missed" sailing on the Titanic were speaking the truth, the sheer mass of the "lucky few" would have been enough to sink it.

Tales of that sort spring up with every shocking story. Here in Wisconsin I've met literally hundreds of people who claim an Aunt or Uncle was either babysat or given "venison" by famous grave robber and murderer Ed Gein. Easily exceeding the number of people than populated the town of Plainfield and surrounding area at the time.

Great article!!

who is Jack Johnson?

I just feel so soory for th peole who lost their lives during titainc.

what did they find on the titanic?

My grandmother Oline Steinde was an immigrant to the US from Norway. It is a family legend that she missed sailing on the Titanic because she had not finished her traditional Norwegian costume (Bunad). She arrived at Ellis Island one month later aboard the Titanic's sister ship the Olympic.

A central figure in the Baha'i Faith, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, was offered passage on the Titanic maiden voyage, as well. American Baha'is, who revered him then and still do today, bought him a first-class ticket to travel in comfort after living most of his life as a prisoner and community leader in the Middle East. He refused the luxury, though, preferring to sail to New York on the RMS Cedric? Wile in America the Persian spiritual leader spoke to congregations and gatherings in churches, synagogues, universities and homes about the need for unity, gender equality, justice, the agreement of religion and science and an end to religious prejudice. Baha'is in North America and commemorating the centennial of this important event in their history this year.

This article also should have included Sir Francis Browne, a student who boarded Titanic only to leave the ship in Ireland. Thing was, he was really looking forward to completing the passage after befriending a wealthy couple, only for his superior to issue a stern order to leave the ship in Ireland as planned. In addition, he was an avid photographer and has pretty much the only photos of life for the doomed passengers.

WOW all the pictures are in black and white I wonder what the colours of the clothes they were wearing it would be so cool if u could see the titanic

I had just visited Hershey park and learned there that Milton Hershey was supposed to be on the titanic. He did great charitable things, thank goodness he missed the sailing

i don't know any of those

Marconi didn't invent the radio. At the Worlds Fair in 1893, Nicola Tesla set up a demonstration exhibit, next to the Westinghouse exhibit demonstrating his polyphase electrical system that was used to light the Fair. It consited of a large tank of water, and floting inside was a toy submersible boat. Using a radio transmitter, the toy sumarine was made to desend in the water and then rise up to the surface. This was the FIRST public demonstration of radio and automation on record. In the 1940's, Marconi's tried to assert a claim to radio's invention which went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. He lost. The Court noted the 1893 Worlds Fair exhibit as the first radio demonstration, and the numberous published articles about Tesla's invention and theories on wireless radio transmission before Marconi had claimed to have invented radio.

According to their biographer, Mary S. Lowell, Sydney and David Mitford had meant to travel on the Titanic. Due to unmentioned circumstances, they only travelled the next year to a small mining spot in Ontario called Swastika - where they conceived Unity, one of the most controversial of the Mitford girls. ('The Mitford Girls' Publ 2001 by Abacus).

My grandparents had booked first class passaage on the Titanic. They were detained in Paris due an illness in their party. They were with a group from Portland OR - Charles F Adams and his wife Mary C. My mother remembers the servents whispereing about the poor orphans and who should they notify. I realize that there are many people that have claimed passage on the doomed ship. Is there anyway to locate documentation to prove their "missed" departure. The only evidence I have is my grandfather's passport ( a letter ). I also know they were friends of the Frank Warrens. Mr Warren parished and Mrs Warren was saved. Thank you for any help you can give me. Judy Anderson

My great great grandmother was known for always being late. She missed the departure of the Titanic by a mere 10 minutes. I can only imagine how she felt when she realized it left without her and again how she felt when she learned that it had sunk.

The reason why Morgan did not sail was that permission to ship some of his vast art collection to the U.S. from France, had been held up by the French government at the last minute. Morgan had to cancel his trip to deal with this problem. We even know the crate numbers that were to be shipped on the Titanic. So, in effect, the stubborn French government saved Morgan's life.

Also canceling at the last minute was Alfred's uncle George Vanderbilt and his wife. George was in Europe when his mother cabled him to avoid the Titanic since 'Maiden voyages are always so troublesome with crowds and media'. Always the obedient son, George complied. This timely advice saved her son and daughter-in-law.

My Mother, Audrey Whelan,(nee Hewitt), was born within the first two hours of the morning of the 15th April 1912. Because of this, I've been fascinated by the story of the Titanic from an early age. When I was younger and we were out in company she would say to me, "Don't say I was born the night the Titanic sank, or they'll know how old I am!"
The story has a kind of romantic touch, sailing across the Atlantic Ocean in a blaze of lights, but the horror that waited in the distance cannot be imagined.

Thank you to Cara for the info that George & Edith Vanderbilt "could" have been on the Titanic, I am from North Carolina, live abt 2hrs from Asheville, & my aunt & uncle lived in Asheville as well, I visited the Biltmore House last Christmas, which everyone in N.C. knows is the beautiful mansion in the mountains that George Vanderbilt built for his family near Asheville, N.C. This is a wonderful bit of History I did not know, thank you Cara & thank you my friend Elaine for telling me about this website.

My grandfather, William Nicholson, worked at the Marconi Wireless station in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia which relayed much of the radio traffic that was so critical in reporting the sinking of the Titanic and the ensuing rescue. He was the boiler engineer that kept the station's power plant operating. I still have his letter of recommendation when he left the job to move to the United States a few years later.

George and Edith Vanderbilt were also booked on the Titanic and cancelled their trip last minute. Aren't they famous enough to make your list? I guess I'm from Asheville, NC....they are famous to us!

My mother's father and mother, Archibald and Anna Mackenzie, were scheduled to come back to the States after touring Europe, but missed their two children so much they cancelled their Titanic tickets and returned aboard a ship sailing earlier. For years, my mother treasured one of their suitcases on which the couple had pasted Titanic stickers. Foolishly, she lent it to a friend of the family who scraped them off before embarking on her own trip, probably a short weekend in New Jersey. Mother regretted this the rest of her life. Wouldn't she be surprised today to know the prices Titanic relics fetch at auctions!

Your fascinating list left out the son of the Founder of theBahai Faith, 'Abdul-Baha. After 40 years impris-onment in Turkish held Palestine, and at advanced age, He travelled to Europe and England on the way to a tour of the US & Canada. 'Abdu'l-Baha was offered a free ticket on the Titanic but refused it. He made a safe passage on the White Star Line's Cedric leaving March 25th.

Nice article,and very beautifull painting of the Titanic, on the magazine cover. The fourth funnel on both the Titanic,and Olympic,was a 'dummy'...used for ventilation purposes only..not connected in any way with the boilers.. so smoke would never have come out of #4. Does'nt matter, tho, lol, its STILL a beautifull painting..

My great grandfather came in 1905, and his daughter, my grandmother came in 1910, they came over on the Carpathia the boat that rescued the survivors of the Titanic. We can only imagine how it was on the Titanic that night, and it must haven been a horrific scene as everyone was scambling to be saved.

In addition, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (better known as Mother Cabrini), the first American citizen (naturalized, not native) to be canonized a saint was also supposed to be on the Titanic.

My maternal grandmother (then 17) was supposed to sail on the Titanic with her parents and a couple who were friends of the family. My grandmother contracted scarlet fever and that ended the voyage for them. My grandmother and great-grandparents were emigrating to Canada; I assume their friends were as well.

The Titanic will forever be an ingrained part of our lives. Through the true accounts to "Hollywood," much of what we perceive to be "un-imaginable" is barely a glimpse of what 1,517 felt and saw the last 2 hours of their lives.

"Futility of the Wreck of the Titan" was a popular 19th century fictional novel on the largest, 'unsinkable' passenger ship with few lifeboats that struck a North Atlantic iceberg and sank. Fourteen years after this book was published, 'Life Imitated Art' as the greatest frauds of all time lured their opponents on to the doomed liner and then accidently missed the boat themselves. Opposition to the Federal Reserve Act drowned in the icey night, allowing Dec 23, 1913 passage in the Senate with a bare quorum. In 1943 the Supreme Court found that Morgan had paid Patent Office clerks to withold Tesla's radio patent, then grant a false patent to Marconi, based on a stolen Russian patent then on file to Marconi in the UK. WE have been lied to about everything.

My Grandfather avoided the Titanic as well. The family story goes that he had a ticket and was preparing to use it to emigrate to Canada, when a village man asked to buy the ticket so he could get to Canada to be with his wife, who had emigrated ahead of the villager. My Grandfather sold him the ticket and bought a less expensive one on another ship.

The village man happened to survive. A powerful swimmer, he was foundering in the icy water when a life boat not quite full floated by, and the women (the boat was filled with women) pulled him in and put their feet on him in the bottom of the life boat to help warm him up.

My Grandfather couldn't swim a stroke.

@John Panter

You're thinking of Leadbelly's song.

It's true that Johnson was denied passage on a ship for being black, that ship was not the Titanic.
That part is urban legend.

Tut!! Tut!!
You missed Jack Johnson! The captain's refusal to let him board has been immortalized in song and story!