How It Really Happened's two-part Titanic special airs tonight

Christina Izzo
·2 min read
6
New episodes of How It Really Happened tackle the sinking of the Titanic.
New episodes of How It Really Happened tackle the sinking of the Titanic.

Nearly everyone has at the very least heard of the Titanic, thanks to that blockbuster James Cameron epic that made Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet household names. But the sinking of the RMS Titanic—at the time the largest ocean liner in the world and widely reputed to be an "unsinkable" ship—during its maiden voyage in April 1912 has been riddled with mystery in the century-plus since.

Now, Titanic historians, wreck analysts, descendants of Titanic passengers and personalities like Downton Abbey writer-producer Julian Fellowes aim to uncover those mysteries in a new edition of How It Really Happened with Jesse L. Martin. The two-hour special investigates both the 1912 Titanic shipwreck that claimed the lives of 1,500 people and recent underwater voyage to its ruins, which have uncovered new secrets around the Titanic sinking and produced similarly tragic outcomes.

"Diving to Titanic is similar to preparing for space travel—it’s a very hostile environment and less than 50 people have ever done it," reads a series description. "Even more than 100 years later, the Titanic is still leading people to their death."

The new installments of How It Really Happened with Jesse L. Martin kicks off with “Titanic Part 1: A Clear and Starry Night” tonight, April 28, at 9pm Eastern on CNN. The second episode, “Titanic Part 2: The Last Moments," will immediately follow at 10pm ET/PT.

The primetime series, which "delves deeply into some of the most notorious crimes, mysteries, trials, and celebrity tragedies of our time," originally aired on HLN and was previously hosted by actor Hill Harper. The Titanic episodes act as the series' premiere at its new home of CNN.

To watch the Titanic-focused premiere of How It Really Happened with Jesse L. Martin tonight, you will need access to CNN. The cable news network is available on most traditional cable TV providers, as well as live TV streaming services like Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV. It will also be available on demand to pay-TV subscribers on CNN.com and CNN connected TV and mobile apps beginning Monday, April 29. Past episodes of How it Really Happened are available to stream on demand now on Max.