The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
November 10, 1975
The ore carrier sinks during a storm on Lake Superior. None of the 29 crew members survived. Gordon Lightfoot‘s song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (1976, #2 hit) was based on this tragedy. When the ship was christened in 1958 it took three attempts to break the champagne bottle. This is considered a bad omen in shipping lore. During the ceremony a spectator had a heart attack and later died.