12 famous people who went down with the Titanic – and 11 who survived
A millionaire, a journalist and a social activist were among those on the doomed Titanic
The Titanic is one of the most famous tragedies in maritime history. And a number of its victims and survivors were quite famous too. The ocean liner, which sank off the coast of Newfoundland on its maiden voyage to New York City, was billed as the paragon of luxury travel. As a result, many prominent individuals decided to book a trip on the doomed ship.
Some of the ship's most famous passengers included a top fashion designer, one of the wealthiest men in the world, and a famous British countess.
Most of the well-known people on board were first-class passengers. Researcher Chuck Anesi crunched the numbers, breaking down the demographics of the survivors. He found that 97.22 per cent of the 144 female first-class passengers were rescued, while only 32.57 per cent of their 175 male counterparts were saved.
Ultimately, he found that male second-class passengers fared the worse in terms of survival, with only 14 out of 168 making it out alive. The total survival rate for women was 74 per cent, while the male survival rate was 20 per cent.
Here are 12 of the most famous victims of the Titanic disaster – and 11 prominent people who survived:
DIED: John Jacob Astor, millionaire
Millionaire John Jacob Astor was a member of the prominent Astor family and helped build the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City. He was also an inventor, a science fiction novelist, and served in the Spanish-American War.
Astor was travelling with his wife Madeleine in Europe when she became pregnant. To ensure the child would be born in the United States, the couple booked a trip home on the Titanic. He was last seen clinging to the side of a raft. His wife survived the disaster.
Astor was worth nearly US$87,000,000 at the time – US$2.21 billion in today's dollars. He was the richest passenger on-board the Titanic.