1. Morgan Robertson’s Futility
Futility or The Wreck of the Titan was a novel written in 1898 by Morgan Robertson. This was released 14 years prior to the sinking of the Titanic. The fictitious novel told the story about the largest ship ever built hitting and iceberg and sinking in the Atlantic ocean on a frigid April night. The fictional ship, which was named Titan and the real Titanic were very similar in design. The book describes how the SS Titan did not carry enough lifeboats (just like the Titanic) which led to the loss of almost everyone on board. The similarities between the book and the actual events lead to conspiracy theories regarding the Titanic’s sinking. Some of which included conspiracies such as using a sister ship to sink an insurance scam by the owners J.P Morgan, and the International Mercantile Marine Group.
The eerie part is that their end is almost identical and both ships were labeled “unsinkable.” This is one of those moments that you consider whether we have premonitions of the future at times, or if coincidence is something that is just a part of the world in which we live. The book is an interesting read if only to see how similar it is to the actual events. If you do read the book, try to put yourself in a place of knowing nothing of a future ship called the Titanic being built. Then try to consider how freaked out you would have been a decade and a half later when the book came true. Even worse, try to consider how surreal it must have been if you wrote the book.