Seven Famous People Who Missed the Titanic
The notables who planned to sail on the fateful voyage included a world-famous novelist, a radio pioneer and America’s biggest tycoons
- By Greg Daugherty
- Smithsonian magazine, March 2012
(©APIC)
The sinking of the Titanic claimed some 1,500 lives, among them a gallery of early 20th-century A-list celebrities. Captains of industry John Jacob Astor IV and Benjamin Guggenheim both went down with the ship, as did Macy’s co-owner Isidor Straus and his wife, Ida, who refused to leave his side. The popular American mystery writer Jacques Futrelle, the American painter and sculptor Francis Millet, and Maj. Archibald Butt, friend and aide to then-President William Howard Taft, were lost as well.
But for all the boldface names among the Titanic’s victims, many more might have been aboard, but for the vagaries of fate. Among them were:
The novelist, then 40, considered returning from his first European holiday aboard the Titanic; an English publisher talked him out of the plan, persuading the writer that taking another ship would be less expensive.
Dreiser was at sea aboard the liner Kroonland when he heard the news. He recalled his reaction the following year in his memoir, A Traveler at Forty: “To think of a ship as immense as the Titanic, new and bright, sinking in endless fathoms of water. And the two thousand passengers routed like rats from their berths only to float helplessly in miles of water, praying and crying!”
Comments (91)
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people that are commenting on the famous people, lol you don't even make the connection of what famous people WERE on it and who "missed" cough cough out...... they are all enemies lol. it didn't sink....it was sunk... and I guarantee j.p morgan was on California with friends watching it sink, and then was taken back to france...... oddly enough some of their enemies that got wind or just had good luck, ended up dying on various other boats in the war... just another coincidence heh? federal reserve .......... research.
Posted by jaja on August 11,2013 | 07:55 PM
I don't know if I have any famous ansesters on the Titanic. I hope we do because that means we are famous I have tried to do research about it but I cant find any. Can someone tell me how to see if i have any famous ansesters pleases i'm desperate. I'm so upset i cant find the right website. And I tried ansester.com but I can't do that because i'm not a member
Posted by yasmine on August 1,2013 | 02:29 PM
I think this wonderful article about this famous people.
Posted by zahid on June 29,2013 | 11:16 AM
There was a rumor going around in my family for a long time that my grandfather,who was from Sweden, was supposed to have been on the Titanic! But he got sick and missed the boat! The truth is he actually came to America a year earlier on a ship which was captained by the Titanic's captain,Smith! So for a long time I was very glad that he missed going on the Titanic,until I learned the real truth of how he came to America! I'am glad that he did make it here after all!
Posted by Mary Sanchez on June 3,2013 | 07:27 PM
Actually Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company founder Frank A Seiberling his wife and daughter Irene were al originally booked on that maiden voyage. Here is there story: Irene was the second child of seven of Frank A. and Gertrude (Penfield) Seiberling. On December 1898 at the mere age of eight Irene pulled the switch (valve) that started the steam powered machinery that began the production of Goodyear tire and rubber. As there family and fortune had grown her parents had wanted to build an estate (Stan Hywet) based upon some the castles and Manor houses in England. In April 1912 at the age of 22 Irene was given the task of booking their trip. Irene, and her parents Frank and Gertrude had gotten many ideas, but on the final day of there tour in England there guide had convinced them to stay an extra day to see a 300 year old castle that he heard was being torn down which meant they could see how these magnificent structures were built from the inside. That meant they would miss their ocean voyage home and would have to re-book there passage. It was a good thing that guide had convinced them to stay because the Ocean voyage that there daughter Irene had booked all 3 of them on went on to become the most famous Ocean liner ever. The Titanic. http://www.flowerfh.com/dynamicnav.php?page=17
Posted by Mark Flower on May 24,2013 | 03:36 PM
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
Posted by emmanuel owolabi on May 13,2013 | 12:07 PM
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.
Posted by Greg Daugherty on May 10,2013 | 05:01 PM
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.
Posted by John Harvey on April 26,2013 | 12:39 PM
I READ THE HISTORY AB0UT TITANIC......I FEEL REALY SAD ABOUT IT........:(
Posted by umaima ali on April 23,2013 | 12:06 PM
This website did not help me at all GET RID OF THIS WERBITE THIS WEBSITE SUCKS
Posted by Candis Anderson on April 17,2013 | 09:46 AM
sank on the day of my dads b-day
Posted by amamnjot on April 15,2013 | 04:53 PM
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
Posted by shehu usman aliyu on April 13,2013 | 05:52 PM
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!!!!!!!!
Posted by Lavada Farris on April 12,2013 | 09:42 AM
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.
Posted by Megan on March 24,2013 | 11:31 PM
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