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A promotional poster for Bruce Caplan’s appearance in San Diego
The Ironies of the Titanic
by Bruce M. Caplan
There’s an old saying that there’s two things you can’t escape and that’s “death and taxes.” On the terribly cold night of April 14th 1912, the Titanic newly crowned Empress of the Seas, met her Waterloo. At 11:40 in the evening the giant vessel slammed into an iceberg and less than three hours later on the morning of April 15th, she was at the bottom of the sea.
Prior to the collision the mood of most on board was idyllic. However, the many millionaires were probably cursing the fact that our government was attempting to levy an annual income tax. Word was that the tax would only apply to the rich and regardless it would never be more than 2% of anyone’s annual income.
Less than a year after the vanishing of the Titanic in February of 1913, the 16th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified and Federal Income Tax became legal.
Originally the annual date to file was not in April, but eventually it became April 15—-the same date on the calendar that the great ship sank. Isn’t it ironic that our government picked the same date on the calendar that the Titanic sank, to make so many of our wallets sink?
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