Imagine the Titanic as a small footnote in history. April 15, 2008 marked the 96th year since the massive ship so quickly sank on its maiden voyage. Scientists have recently discovered that the builder struggled to obtain enough rivets and riveters so they ultimately settled for faulty materials that may have led to the ship's demise. Harland & Wolff were simultaneously building the world's three largest ships - the Titanic, Olympic, and Britannic. Each of the three ships required 3 million rivets that literally held them together. The shortage hit its peak during construction of the Titanic. Research indicates that steel rivets were the standard but inferior rivets made from a mixture of steel and iron were used on the fateful ship. This new information suggests that had the proper materials been used, the Titanic might have only been remembered for its careless encounter with an iceberg rather than for its enormous loss of life. Details, like rivets, are small, yet extremely important.
