Stuff You Should Know - Short Stuff: Titanic Survivors!

Episode Date: May 8, 2024

We all know the story of the Titanic and the tragedy of lives lost. So hey, let's talk about the survivors for a change!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, girlfriends. It's me, Carol Fisher, back with another season of the global number one podcast The Girlfriends. Last time we investigated the murder of Gail Katz. This time we're uncovering the identity of the woman who was buried in Gail's grave for a decade before she disappeared. Join me and the rest of the club as we tell her story. Listen to season two of The Girlfriends, Our Lost Sister on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey and welcome to The Short Stuff. I'm Josh and there's Chuck and I can say with 100% certainty that neither one of us went down with the Titanic. That's true, try to dispute that fact. You can't do it.

Yeah, we're talking a little bit. I know we did a episode on the Titanic, but I don't know that we really dug into the data of survivors, and I can't remember why I was looking at this, but it might have just been a story that came my way, but I just thought it was kind of interesting to look a little bit about like, not the ones who perish, but the people who survived

and like, who were these people? Yeah, it's always about the ones that perished. Yeah. Leo slipping under the cold, murky depths. So blue. Even though he could have fit on that door. Totally. Yeah, it was kind of ridiculous, but still, it was a great ending.

Yeah. So let's just kind of go over the basic facts here, right? Titanic, it left Southampton, England for New York City on April 10th, 1912. Four days later, April 14th, maybe three days. I can't remember if it was right before the 14th or right before the 15th Mm-hmm. I really kind of meandered there. I was the night of the 14th. So it went into the 15th

Okay, so if we got that wrong, I feel dumb four days into the into this cruise aboard Seriously, what was that the most luxurious luxury liner and there are plenty of luxury lines. This was the cream of the crop the most luxurious luxury liner, and there were plenty of luxury liners. This was the cream of the crop with 2,240 people on board, 900 of which were crew. It struck an iceberg, and within less than three hours, the whole ship, the massive ship, completely submerged, sunk.

That's right. If you're looking at the overall survival rates, women survived obviously more than men, pretty significantly. 74% of the female passengers survived, 20% of the male passengers obviously because of the notion of women and children first, which has always sort of been the calling card of any situation, disaster situation. And not only the literally Captain Edward John Smith, you know, making that an order in the evac process, but just the general idea that, you know, you're going to prioritize the women and children.

Yeah. And they actually did. Instinctively, yeah. It's nice to see. Like you can say, just statistically speaking, they definitely did. 74% of female passengers did survive, but only 20% of male passengers survived. So you're like, oh, great, let's call it a day.

It ended just great as far as those things go, right? Call it a day. The thing is, is if you start digging into the classes, there's some disparities that emerge that are a little disturbing. And by a little, I mean pretty disturbing and sad. Yeah, so there were three classes aboard, first, second, and third, and then the crew members.

And they go as follows. 62% of the first class passengers survived for a couple of reasons. Obviously, they were prioritized just because, unfortunately, that's how it worked back then, maybe still how it works a little bit. You're given priority on those lifeboats, but also just because of the sheer fact that when you're up on a higher floor, you're going to be closer to those lifeboats. You're going to be able to get there quicker and get information relayed

to you quicker. Yes. Plus all of them were automatically enrolled in the Titanic's VIP life-saving members club policy. Yeah. So the second-class passengers, they didn't fare quite as well, but still not that bad. 43% of them survived. Actually, it's pretty bad.

The reason why is for the opposite reasons of what you just said, they were further away from the lifeboats. The crew paid less attention to helping them get off of the Titanic and onto those lifeboats. And so, so yeah, more than half of the people in second class, um, died. And I saw that second. So something I saw about this is that the third class passengers, which we'll talk about in a second,

they actually had little cabins that were nicer than second class accommodations on other liners. Oh yeah? But that the second class passengers had the kind of the jankiest, because for some reason, not all of the second class cabins got finished because Titanic's construction was so rushed.

Oh, interesting. And apparently there were reports of people who were in second class that were finding half-eaten sandwiches that the workmen had left behind. That's how recently it was completed. I wonder if they were, that's remarkable first of all. Thank you. I wonder if they were like, well, you got two crews, let's start building from the top and from the bottom. And then they ran out of time in the middle. Man, I was on a flight.

You mean I went to Dominican Republic years ago and it was one of those ones where you walk out on the tarmac and climb the stairs to board? Oh yeah. I've never seen this before in my life, but the ground crew opened the front and the side door and said, have at it. And so people had no idea which door to go up.

And we're like having to pass one another in the middle of the airplane, trying to get to their seats. It was the dumbest boarding I've ever seen in my life. I'm still, it still takes my breath away. I couldn't believe it was going on. It was just absolutely hilarious. You knew who also, I wonder if I should name this person. Is that bad to say that someone had a VIP experience that you witnessed?

Is this about Hodgman? It has to be. No. Usher. Oh, okay. What about him? When I got on my flight coming home from our Christmas vacation to the Bahamas. We were just about to step onto the plane, literally, and the airline employees were like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you guys move to the side. And this group of about 20 people, they just shuttle by us, which I wasn't like, what's going on here?

I was just like, what's going on here? I was just more like, this is weird. Who are they? I get on the plane and the very first person I see is Usher sitting there on the, on the front first row. I was like, wait a minute. After Benjamin Franklin. I was like, Usher didn't, uh, he didn't walk by us

in that crew. He was already on the plane. Interesting. Thought about it a little bit on the flight. And then when we get to Atlanta, um, Usher's up in front of us, obviously, and he takes a left out of that door where you put your baby stroller and doesn't walk up the jetway. And I was like, what's going on?

And I looked out of that door and there were probably 15 matte black BMWs sitting on the tarmac. Oh, neat. I was like, oh, Usher doesn't even have to walk through an airport. No. And Usher was just- I guess you could pay for that kind of experience. Oh yeah, for sure. I'm a gog that he even flew commercial. If you're, if you're doing that kind of stuff, why wouldn't you just fly private? We asked ourselves that same question. If you're, I mean, he clearly is paying for like a lot of his family and extended family to take

this awesome vacation. Okay. There were so many people, it seems like it would have been more cost effective to probably rent a plane. Yeah, you'd think so. Come on, are you sure? Let's get it together. But they weren't sitting in first class and he had his family back there in coach.

Most of them. I think I saw a few in Delta Comfort, but you know you go. You know, he was up there with his wife. He didn't fly private because he was sacrificing for his family members because he didn't wanna fly them private. Yeah, I don't begrudge it. Good for him. If he can afford that, more power to you.

Man, who thought Usher was gonna make an appearance in this Titanic Survivor short stuff? Not me at all. So maybe Anne Usher, but not the Usher. Sure. So let's real quick before we take a break, go through, so third class. Oh geez, is that where we were?

Yeah, they were the worst off of all. Only 26% of people in third class, 174 out of 709 passengers survived. Yeah, and I just should point out that that's obviously due to them being lower, but then also they're not prioritized and they're not getting, they didn't even bother telling them what to do basically. They were like figure it out yourself and they may not have even understood figure it out yourself in a lot of cases because as we know from our good friend in the Titanic movie

I can't remember his name Billy Zane Leo's Italian buddy Giuseppe was that his name I don't remember he had that I don't think the guy was really Italian but he you know a lot of times those third-class passengers on the Titanic may not have spoken English, so there was a language barrier on top of everything. Right, yeah, ironically, that actor was Native American playing an Italian person. Right, and he cried when he saw trash in the ocean. So you said one more thing though, that they're in the lower decks,

it's not just harder to get up to the upper decks in the lifeboats, that's also the first area to flood with seawater when a ship strikes an iceberg, right? So, yeah. Crew members actually only 24% of the crew members survived. That's actually the lowest number. Kind of a heartfelt number because most of them died saving other people's lives. Yeah. Let's take a break and we'll come back and run through some notable survivors. How about that? Let's do it. Hey girlfriends, it's me, Carol Fisher. I'm so excited to tell you about the brand new

series of The Girlfriends. In season one, we told you about the murder of Gail Katz at the hands of my ex-boyfriend Bob. At one point, a woman's torso washed up on Staten Island and was misidentified as Gail. She spent nine years in Gail's grave and then she just disappeared. It's almost like it's become this moral obligation to find her. And that's what we're going to do. Find this missing girlfriend and tell her story. With the help of some of your favorite girlfriends from Season 1, like my producer Anna. Oh my god.

My friend Dr. Mindy Shapiro. Hi, it's Dr. Shapiro and I'd like to speak with the Deputy Medical Examiner. And of course, Gail's sister Elaine Katz. I'm Dr. Shapiro and I'd like to speak with the Deputy Medical Examiner. And of course, Gail's sister, Elaine Katz. Having no closure, it kills you. Join us as we try to solve a 35-year-old cold case. It's not going to be easy, but it's going to be one hell of a ride. What?

I can't believe this. Listen to season two of The Girlfriends, our lost Sister on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Get emotional with me, Radhita Vlukya, in my new podcast, A Really Good Cry. We're going to talk about and go through all the things that are sometimes difficult to process alone. We're going to go over how to regulate your emotions, diving deep into holistic personal development and just building your mindset to have a happier, healthier life.

We're going to be talking with some of my best friends. I didn't know we were going to go there, aren't we? People that I admire. When we say listen to your body, really tune in to what's going on. Authors of books that have changed my life. Now you're talking about sympathy, which is different than empathy, right? And basically have conversations that can help us get through this crazy thing we call life. I already believe in myself. I already see myself.

And so when people give me an opportunity, I'm just like, oh great, you see me too. We'll laugh together, we'll cry together and find a way through all of our emotions. Never forget, it's okay to cry as long as you make it a really good one. Listen to A Really Good Cry with Radhie Devlukia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. We promised talk of notable survivors. We have a good list here, but we're just going to kind of pick and choose some of our faves. So I'll go first, if I may.

Yes, please. The first person I'm going to pick is a little BB, a nine-week-old baby named Milvina Dean, the youngest survivor of the Titanic. And I did a little more research on Milvina. Milvina was from England. Her parents ran a pub and decided they wanted to move to Kansas. I think they had family in Kansas or maybe it was Missouri, I can't remember. One of the two, and either way they're immigrating to the U.S., they

sold their pub, dad bought a third class family ticket. Ironically, they were not even supposed to be on the Titanic. Like a lot of the passengers, there was a cold strike that relocated them to the Titanic. And when the incident happened, when the iceberg was struck, dad instructed the family to go up, up, up to the lifeboats. They survived, mom, brother, and little nine-week-old Milvina. Sadly, dad did not survive.

They went back to England afterward because they didn't really, you know, just the mom and the two kids went back to what was more familiar. And she ended up being the oldest living survivor. Just died in 2009 at 97 years old. And one other quick thing, she did not even know she was a passenger on the Titanic until she was eight years old. Oh, wow. Yeah. Crazy. That's a good one, Chuck. I got one.

What you got? There's a very famous survivor, a woman named Margaret Molly Brown. The Unsinkable. Yes, very famously dubbed the Unsinkable Molly Brown because not only did she survive the Titanic, she was instrumental in helping organize the survivors aboard the Carpathia. She helped with language barriers. She was originally from Ireland, so she was able to speak to some of the Irish immigrants who didn't speak English.

And not only that, she raised $10,000, which is equal to about $320,000 today among the first class passengers to help the second and third class passengers who had lost family members before the Carpathia even reached New York. Oh, wow. Yeah. The other notable thing about her, and there's plenty of notable things,

but the press dubbed her the unsinkable Molly Brown. She never used the name Molly in her entire life. It was always Margaret. Is that, I didn't know that was even a nickname. Yeah, the Unsinkable Molly, oh, Molly for Margaret? Yeah, did you know that? I don't, I didn't know that either. I thought Molly was just Molly.

Yeah, me too. Yeah, or E. Come on. All right, I've got a couple here that are linked. A gentleman named Carl with a K, Bear, and a gentleman named Dick Norris, Richard Norris Williams III. I mention these guys together because they were both tennis players, like tennis stars. I believe Carl Bear was traveling with his fiance, Helen Newsome, or maybe they weren't engaged yet, but she became his wife at some

point. Yeah. No, they were engaged. Okay. And he did help her onto a lifeboat. They were separated, but he got a spot on a different lifeboat. Richard Norris Williams II was traveling with his father. They were separated, but he was rescued.

I didn't see you about his father. Yeah, I didn't either. But Williams was rescued. And again, I mentioned them together because they ended up competing against one another post-Titanic on the tennis court. Isn't that nuts? Pretty crazy.

And I'm sure some wiseacre said something about it being like a Titanic of a match or something. Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah. I've got one more. and then how about you do one more? No, let's just, let's just finish up with yours. Oh, okay. This is a shorty. Well, now I have to choose.

Um, so there's a woman named Edith Rosenbaum Russell at the time. She was just Edith Rosenbaum. She became a fashion journalist and a fashion buyer. Had she not survived the pants suit might never have been invented. But what she's famous for is that she had a toy pig that she brought with her, that her mother had given her while she was grieving the loss of her husband, who had died in an auto accident like a year or two before. So she carried this toy pig with her everywhere, Edith did.

And she said that she was spending time locking her trunks, because just in case the ship went down, she wanted them to float or she wanted, she didn't want people stealing from them. She didn't plan on getting out of the Titanic at all, but some random crew member grabbed the pig from her arm and said, if you're not going save your baby, I will, and threw the pig into one of the lifeboats. And so Edith said she realized very clearly that that was a sign that her mother would want her to survive because her mother had given her the pig, so she followed the pig into the lifeboat and survived.

And now the pig is in the National Maritime Museum in London. That's right. Isn't that neat? You know what, I am gonna mention one more just quickly because I thought you were gonna pick this guy. Yeah. But we should mention that Bruce Ismay, who was the managing director of the White Star Line

that ran the Titanic, he survived. It was a guy that was in the movie, it was played by Jonathan Hyde. And he got a lot of, obviously, got a lot of criticism. It was on one of the last lifeboats but still people were like hey women and children are perishing and the guy who runs the whole show gets himself on a lifeboat. You should have prioritized other people's safety so he he didn't have the

best reputation after that. No. But you know what that means. Is Short stuff out? Yeah. Stuff you should know is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts, myHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.