Did the Moon Help Sink the Titanic? A New Theory Says Yes

"The authors, Donald Olson and Russell Doescher, along with Roger Sinnott, a contributor editor of the magazine, begin with an improbable convergence months before the Titanic set sail — on Jan. 4, 1912, to be exact. On that day, the sun and the moon lined up with the earth in such a way that their combined gravity led to a cycle of unusually high and low tides. By itself, the phenomenon is not that uncommon; indeed, it's a very familiar one, known as the spring tides — even though they don't necessarily occur in spring. But in 1912, the spring tides were special. At almost exactly the same time they were occurring, the scientists determined, the moon just happened to make its closest approach to earth in 1,400 years. The moon's orbit is slightly oval, so it oscillates between closer and farther away every month; but there's a slight wobble on top of that so that on occasion, close becomes extremely close and far becomes very far — at least by earth-moon standards. In 1912, the unusual proximity of the moon made its gravitational pull just a little more powerful than normal. Worse still, on Jan. 3 — only one day earlier — the earth made its closest approach to the sun, which happens every year at this time. That meant that solar gravity was stronger than usual too. That all of this would converge at precisely the right (or wrong) moment in the moon's monthly procession around the earth — never mind the earth's annual procession around the sun as well — impressed even the scientists."
via Time /read more