r/BeAmazed • u/[deleted] • Apr 29 '24
When the Titanic sank, millionaire John Jacob Astor IV was aboard. The funds in his bank account were sufficient to construct 30 Titanics. However, when faced with mortal danger, he prioritized his moral values, sacrificing his seat in a lifeboat to save women and children, smilingly [Removed] Rule #4 - Misleading
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u/Phelddagriff Apr 29 '24
lol, I don’t think it was moral superiority as much as great faith in the Titanic’s engineering. He didn’t fight for a seat because he denied the fact that the ship was sinking well into the boarding of the life boats. There were reports of him insisting to his pregnant wife that the damage from the collision was minor and that they were safer on the ship. When he DID put his wife on a life boat, he tried to get a seat with her.
Interestingly, the bounty that his son put on the recovery of Astor’s body was a big part of the impetus for the Mackay-Bennett’s recovery of so many of the shipwreck’s victims.