The maiden voyage of the Titanic had many opulent personalities onboard its first-class accommodations and Henry Clay Frick, an American industrialist, who financed the construction of the Pennsylvania railroad, had full intentions of taking that fateful trip.
The American steel tycoon had to cancel his plans with his wife just a few days before the schedule after the latter accidentally sprained her ankle. Realizing she wouldn’t enjoy their vacation with an injury, he called off their plans for her to rest.
George Washington Vanderbilt II Changed His Plans at the Last Minute
George Washington Vanderbilt II was one of the notable people who was supposed to sail on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. He was the heir to the Vanderbilt fortune, amassed from railroads, steamboats, and other businesses. He canceled his trip after his mother-in-law vehemently objected to their plans, citing the dangers of maiden voyages.
He had already sent for his luggage aboard the Titanic through his footman, Frederick Wheeler. Although their tickets were already paid for, George W. Vanderbilt II and his wife transferred to the Olympic and arrived in New York before the Titanic sank. Their footman never made it through the accident.
Theodore Dreiser Nearly Met Disaster
Theodore Dreiser was an American journalist and novelist. His best-known novels are "American Tragedy" and "Sister Carrie". He was on his first European vacation and had planned on taking the opportunity to sail via the Titanic to return to America, but canceled his plans at the urging of his publisher.
The latter wanted him to take a less expensive means of traveling, and he complied. After he had learned of the tragedy, Dreiser wrote, “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!”
Guglielmo Marconi’s Personal Paperwork Kept Him Alive
Guglielmo Marconi was an Italian inventor known for his work on radio transmission. He is also credited for the invention of the radio, and a radio telegraph system that won him the Nobel Prize he shared with Karl Ferdinand Braun. He was an important man, and his invention was a great help to shipping communications, and he was given a free pass to ride the Titanic.
Instead of grabbing the opportunity, Guglielmo Marconi chose to sail via the Lusitania. His daughter said that he made that decision because he had important paperwork to do, and he preferred that ship’s telegraph operator over the Titanic’s.
The Actress Who Survived and Wrote a Film to Tell Her Story
The Titanic had many famous personalities onboard, and one of them was Dorothy Gibson, an American silent film actress. As it turns out, Gibson was one of the lucky survivors, and after arriving in New York she immediately started filming "Saved From the Titanic", a film she both wrote and starred in.
Released in May 1912, only a month after the Titanic disaster, the film depicted the events of the night when it sank. Gibson wore the same clothes and shoes in the film as she did during the actual event. Sadly, in what was described as a great loss to the silent film era, the only known print of the film was destroyed in a fire in 1914.