Marking the 112th anniversary of the Titanic’s maiden voyage, Us Weekly sat down with researcher James Penca to get a glimpse into the lifetime of passenger John Jacob Astor, the wealthiest male aboard the most notorious ship in history.
It is been around a hundred decades and men and women are continue to so fascinated by the Titanic. Why do you assume this is so?
The Titanic is still the biggest story of all time. It has drama, it has romance, it has heroes and villains. It is in this excellent time in historical past that people today uncover so fascinating. It has a small bit of everything. And so I just think the curiosity will never go away.
There were being so quite a few various lessons of persons that have been on board the Titanic, which includes some really rich individuals, together with John Jacob Astor. So how did he in shape in between the large rollers that have been on board?
He was with his new wife, Madeline, on a 10-7 days tour of the Mediterranean simply because of the scandal heading on in the U.S. encompassing their relationship. He was 47, she was 18, so many first-class travellers gave them the cold shoulder.
What detail about his time on Titanic called out that John Jacob Astor was rich and famous?
He boarded the Titanic with a minor entourage — his spouse, Madeline, his pet, Kitty, a valet, a lady’s maid and a nurse. Really fairly a group to be boarding with them.
What was John Jacob Astor’s internet worth at the time of his demise in 1912? What’s that equal to nowadays?
John Jacob Astor’s web value at the time of his demise was around $87 million. That would be much more like $18 billion these days.
How does his legacy suit into our fascination with the ship and famous people nowadays?
John Jacob Astor is a extremely significant section of the Titanic tale. He represents the initially course as a complete. He’s from just one of the most iconic families in American historical past. It adds to the drama, it provides to the fascination of Titanic.
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