On April 15, 1912, the world’s largest ship, Titanic, sank after colliding with an iceberg, claiming more than 1,500 lives. The South Florida Science Center and Aquarium pays tribute to the tragedy  through Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, where nearly 100 artifacts conserved from the ship’s debris field will be showcased to provide visitors with a poignant look at this iconic ship and its passengers. The exhibit runs from  Nov. 16  through April 20, 2014.

Visitors will receive a replica boarding pass of an actual passenger on board Titanic and begin their chronological journey through the life of Titanic, moving through the ship’s construction, to life on board, to the ill-fated sinking and amazing artifact rescue efforts.

Through a display of  room recreations and  passenger artifacts, visitors will see perfume created by a man traveling to New York to sell his samples, china etched with the logo of the elite White Star Line, as well as personal items:  a cigar holder, toothpaste jar and a calling card.

In the “Memorial Gallery,” guests will take their boarding pass to the memorial wall and discover whether their passenger and traveling companions survived or perished.

Recreation of a first class cabin; case with toiletry items

Over the past 15 years, more than 25 million people have seen this  exhibition in major museums worldwide.  RMS Titanic, Inc. is the only company permitted by law to recover objects from the wreck site of Titanic. The company was granted Salvor-in-Possession rights to the wreck site of Titanic by a United States federal court in 1994 and has conducted eight research and recovery expeditions to the sunken ship, rescuing more than 5,500 artifacts.

Admission price to the Artifact Exhibition will be $15 for adults, $11.50 for children aged 3 to 12, and $13.50 for seniors aged 62 and older.  Science Center members and children under 3 are free.

The South Florida Science Center and Aquarium is located at 4801 Dreher Trail North, West Palm Beach and is open Monday – Friday from 9am-5pm, and on Saturday and Sunday from 10am-6pm.  For more information, call 561-832-1988 or visit www.sfsciencecenter.org.  Like the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium on Facebook and follow them on Twitter @SFScienceCenter.

Titanic Fast Facts:

• 705 passengers survived, but 1,523 were lost. Even if all 20 lifeboats had been filled to capacity, there was only room in them for 1,178 people.
• Titanic was the largest moving object of its time.
• It cost $7.5 million to build Titanic, which carried a $5 million insurance policy. It would have cost about $400 million to build the ship today.
• More than 10,000 men worked on Titanic for nearly three years to construct the hull and internal structure.
• More than 100,000 people gathered to watch Titanic sail off to New York.
• For a third-class passenger, a ticket was $40 ($770 today). For a first-class passenger, tickets were $4,500 a piece ($90,000 today).
• It took about 60 pounds of coal for the ship to move 60 feet.