1907
Plans are made to build two luxury ships, the Olympic and the Titanic, with a third, the Britannic, to be built later.

1908-1909
Construction of the Olympic and Titanic begins in Belfast, Ireland, at the Harland and Wolff shipyards.

1910
October 20
The Olympic is successfully launched.

1911
May 31
The hull of the Titanic is successfully launched.
June
The Olympic leaves on her maiden voyage.

1912
January
Sixteen wooden lifeboats, along with four collapsible canvas-sided boats, are fitted on board the Titanic.
March 31
The outfitting of the Titanic is complete.

April 10
9:30 to 11:30 am: passangers arrive in Southampton and board ship.
Noon: The Titanic casts off and begins her maiden voyage.
6:30 pm: The Titanic rides anchor in Cherbourg, France.
8:10pm: The Titanic leaves for Queenstown, Ireland.

April 11 (Thursday)
1:30pm: The Titanic leaves Queenstown for New York.

April 12 and 13 (Friday and Saturday)
The Titanic sails through calm, clear weather.

April 14 (Sunday)
Seven ice warnings are received during the day.
11:40pm: The lookouts see an iceberg dead ahead. The iceberg strikes the Titanic on the starboard side of her bow.
11:50pm: Water has poured in and risen 14 feet in the front part of the ship.

April 15
12:00am: The captain is told that the ship can only stay afloat for a couple of hours. He gives the call for a radio distress signal to be sent out.

12:05am: Orders are given to uncover the lifeboats and to get the passengers and crew ready on deck. But there is only enough room in the lifeboats for about half of the estimated 2,227 people on board.

12:25am: The order is given to start loading the lifeboats with women and children first. The Carpathia, southeast of the Titanic by about 58 miles, picks up a distress call and immediately heads, full speed, to the rescue.

12:45am: The first of the lifeboats is safely lowered away. It can carry 65 people but pulls away from the Titanic carrying only 28! The first distress rocket is fired. Eight rockets will be fired throughout the night.

1:15am: The tilt of the deck grows increasingly steeper. Lifeboats now begin to leave more fully loaded.

1:40am: Most of the forward lifeboats have been lowered. Passengers now move towards the stern of the ship.

2:05am: The last lifeboat leaves. There are now over 1,500 people left on board the sinking ship. The tilt on the Titanic's decks grows steeper and steeper.

2:17am: The last radio call for help is sent out. Captain Smith tells his crew "It's every man for himself!". The Titanic's bow plunges under. Many passengers jump over board. The forward funnel collapses, crushing a number of people.

2:18am: The ship's lights blink once and then go out. Several survivors see the ship break in two. The bow section sinks.

2:20am: The Titanic's broken off stern section settles back into the water, becoming level for a few moments. Slowly it fills with water and again it tilts its end high into the air, before sinking into the sea. Those struggling in the icy water slowly freeze to death.

3:30am: The rescue ship, Carpathia's rockets are sighted by the survivors in the lifeboats.

4:10am: The first lifeboat is picked up by Carpathia.

8:50am: The Carpathia leaves the area bound for New York, carrying 705 survivors.

April 18
9:00pm: The Carpathia reaches New York.

April 19 to May 25
An inquiry into the Titanic disaster is conducted by the United States Senate.

April 22 to May 15
Several ships are sent to the disaster site to search for bodies.
A total of 328 bodies were found floating around the area.

May 2 to July 3
The British Inquiry is conducted.

1913
April
As a result of the Titanic disaster, the International Ice Patrol is created to guard the North Atlantic sea lanes.

1914
February
The Titanic's second sister ship, the Britannic, is launched.
She is sunk two years later during the First World War.

1935
After 24 years of safe and reliable service, the Titanic's sister, the Olympic is retired and scraped.

1955
Walter Lord writes a best seller, A Night To Remember.
Three years later a movie of the same title, based on the novel, is made.

1980
Raise The Titanic, the movie was made.

1985
A joint French - American scientific expedition led by Dr. Robert Ballard discovers the wreck of the Titanic.

1986
Dr. Ballard returns to the Titanic. In a submarine he explores and photographs the entire wreck.

1991
A Candaian - Soviet dive returns with a IMAX film made.

1994
The wreck of the Titanic - a major exhibition - opens at the National Maritime Museum, London, displaying artifacts recovered by Titanic Inc. between 1987 and 1993.