Sinking of the RMS Titanic cultural phenomenon, commemorated by artists, film-makers, writers, composers, musicians and dancers from the time immediately after the sinking to the present day. On 1 September 1985, a joint US-French expedition led by Robert Ballard found the wreck of "Titanic", and the ship's rediscovery led to an explosion of interest in "Titanic"s story. Numerous expeditions have been launched to film the wreck and, controversially, to salvage objects from the debris field. The first major exhibition of recovered artefacts was held at London's National Maritime Museum in 1994–95. In 1997, James Cameron's eponymous film became the first movie ever to take $1
Wreck of the RMS Titanic which will follow ours." However, within only two weeks of the discovery, a British insurance company claimed that it owned the wreck, and several more schemes to raise it were announced. A Belgian entrepreneur offered trips to "Titanic" for $25,000 a head. Spurred by Ballard's appeals for the wreck to be left alone, North Carolina Congressman Walter B. Jones, Sr. introduced the RMS Titanic Maritime Memorial Act in the United States House of Representatives in 1986. It called for strict scientific guidelines to be introduced to govern the exploration and salvage of "Titanic" and urged the United States Secretary of