It's no secret I'm a big fan of Titanic. I saw it in theaters like 7 times but seriously how can you blame me? The movie was so good! I also find the real life story of the Titanic fascinating too. According to The Washington Post, as posted on msn.com, for the first time in the 108 years since the Titanic sank to the bottom of the ocean, explorers are actually going to cut into the ship and remove a piece! I guess I didn't realize that they had never done this before so this is a big deal. You might find it interesting that the first piece they'll remove from the wreckage is the wireless Marconi telegraph. It was one of the first of its kind and was used by the doomed ocean liner to contact a nearby ship for aid. The expedition was approved by a federal judge in Virginia stating that it was "a unique opportunity to recover an artifact that will contribute to the legacy left by the indelible loss of the Titanic." If recovered, the telegraph could be restored to operable condition.
On the other side of things, the recovery project has been majorly opposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who argue that it should be respected as a grave rather than mined as a museum supply. Click here to read more from the very interesting article as well as hear about the wireless operator, Jack Phillips, who died after refusing to leave his flooded post.