On Sept. 1, 1985, underwater explorer Robert Ballard located the world's most famous shipwreck. The Titanic lay largely intact at a depth of 12,000 ft. off the coast of St. John's, Newfoundland
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Ballard, who has pleaded with would-be salvagers to leave the wreck undisturbed, prefers a different form of remembrance. On his seventh dive in Alvin, he placed a commemorative plaque donated by the Titanic Historical Society on the vessel's stern section. The inscription reads in part: "In memory of those souls who perished with the Titanic, April 14/15, 1912."