Mental Floss:

On November 10, 1975, two ships made their way in tandem across the stormy waters of Lake Superior. One was the Arthur M. Anderson, led by Captain Jesse Cooper. The other, captained by Ernest McSorley, was the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald.

The ship was last seen on radar around 7:15 p.m. All 29 men on board were lost with it, and today, 40 years after the most famous shipwreck in Great Lakes history, the cause is still a mystery.

Here’s what we do know about the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, and what happened to it that fateful day.

“The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” is a beautifully tragic song from Canadian songwriting legend Gordon Lightfoot. I’m probably not wrong in saying that all Canadians, at least those over the age of 40, know every word to that song.