The Titanic isn’t a great example. The wreck was found during some of our (millennial) lifetimes. Even though we weren’t necessarily old enough to remember the discovery we still experienced the renewed interest that the discovery brought. We had National Geographic specials, children’s books, and an IMAX movie before James Cameron’s Titanic was released. For example, this book was very popular when I was in elementary school: Finding the Titanic by Robert D. Ballard | Goodreads
I was listening to the radio account, available on the Wikipedia article, and the Piper Cub wandered by to get something from the fridge.
“That’s the Hindenburg thing”, he said.
“Yes, how did you know ?” I asked.
“Oh the humanity!” he said. “You hear that a lot online. It’s been overused, in my opinion.” (Although that phrase hadn’t come up yet in the recording, so he recognised the recording in general.)
I grilled him on what caused the accident.
“The gas”, he said. “It burst into flames”.
Short discussion ensued about the difference between hydrogen and helium, with a side route into nitrogen.
And then he wandered away.
So that’s one teenager who knows about it.
I’m an old, but I knew a lot about the Titanic because one of my best friend’s grandmother was a survivor.
Tasting History recreates recipes from the past and shares some historical background. It is insanely addictive.
I’m aware of only one movie made in 1975. I’ve never seen it.
The Hindenburg’s connection to Nazi Germany two years before they invaded Poland Sept 1939 doesn’t lend itself to movies.
The US used Zepplins in WWII.
Surprisingly hard to shoot down in World War II, surprisingly easy to lose in not-particularly-horrible weather in the 1930s. Hindenburg, R-101, USS Macon, USS Akron…
German airships were initially difficult to bring down in WWI. The low pressure hydrogen they used was difficult to ignite even with incendiary bullets. Eventually a British pilot managed to bring one down by firing a machine gun firing specially designed incendiary bullets straight up into the bottom of zeppelin in repeated passes.
Note that the US airships were blimps, not rigid Zeppelins/dirigibles. They lacked the internal structure which supported dirigibles or the fixed keel structure of a semi-rigid airship, and had outer envelopes inflated by the internal pressure of the helium gas like a birthday balloon.
USS Akron under construction
The other reason they were hard to shoot down was the high altitudes they operated at. Most aircraft sent up to intercept could not get high enough before the zeppelin had already dropped it’s bombs and turned for home.
The Hindenburg was nazi propaganda. It never made money, but was subsidized heavily by the Third Reich because it was a floating billboard for fascism.
“Support Fascism today and get Big Gray Balloons!”
I came for the balloon, I stayed for the fireworks.
Don’t recall all the details but I think maybe the zeppelins had to descend below the cloud layer to find their targets. The Brits had biplanes. I doubt they were capable of getting close to the airships otherwise.
They had what was called a spy gondola , which lowered an observer from a cable and phone wire below the cloud cover. Howard Hughes’ Hells Angels shows the heartless Germans cutting the cable when the gondola becomes a liability
How many of them have heard the song about it?
I’m glad I know a bit about the Hindenburg, as well as Teapot Dome and Daddy and Peaches. Of course, per the OP, I can’t hold today’s youth, or the average Everyman responsible for bearing interest in things like that. Interwar eras; 1865-1914, 1919-1939, etc., hold a special fascination for their exuberance at what had just passed and their blundering into what would come next, as well as poignant antecedents for similarities of what we live in today.
I hadn’t heard of Daddy and Peaches. “Composograph” in the Wiki article – interesting 1920s version of “photoshopping” (c. 1995-2015), or today’s “AI-generated fake photo.”
/hijack
Could you use a dive bomber against an airship?
Would the bomb bounce off?
(There’s a Looney Tunes script here …)