While one of his shipping company's liners sank in the Atlantic Ocean in April 1912, American businessman JP Morgan was enjoying the thermal baths of Aix-les-Bains, France. And not just to treat rheumatism.
It is one of the greatest maritime disasters of the 20th century, outside of the two world wars, told in the sublime film by James Cameron. At night from April 14 to 15, 1912just a few days after leaving the Irish mainland towards New York, the Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean, after hitting an iceberg. The incident causes the death of around 1,500 people.
On board, Captain Edward Smith and Thomas Andrews, the architect British naval officer who worked on the ship's construction. Both disappeared during its shipwreck. But that evening, a man should have been by their side. The owner of the White Star Line shipping company to which the Titanic belonged, John Pierpont Morgan, said J. P. Morganwas invited to the maiden voyage but this one declined the invitation for a rather funny reason.
In Aix-les-Bains for his rheumatism or his mistress?
The powerful American businessman, aged 75 at the time, was “restrained” in Aix-les-Bains, France. The banker, who was nicknamed the “Napoleon of finance”knew the thermal baths of the Savoyard town well, which he frequented for several years in a row. Suffering from rheumatismhe was followed by Doctor Léon Blanc. This is the official reason why he stayed on dry land, leaving the Titanic to sail alone on the ocean and hit an iceberg.
But the rumors were completely different at the time. It was said that the American, who was born on April 17, decided to cancel his cruise to celebrate his birthday with his mistress. A journalist reportedly saw the couple walking carefreely a few days after the sinking.
Even today, some conspiracy theories claim that the man was in France for a much darker reason. The industrialist would have hidden on the shores of Lac du Bourget because he would have deliberately caused the sinking of the liner in order to kill his enemies on boardusing an older ship but very similar to the Titanic, the Olympic. But contemporary historians have proven that this trackstill broadcast on social networks, is totally false.
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