The RMS Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg.

Milton S. Hershey was not a passenger on the doomed ship.

Hershey loved new and innovative things, according to Pam Whitenack, the director of the Hershey Community Archives.

That is likely why he purchased a ticket for $300 to sail on the Titanic, which left on its maiden voyage with 2,224 passengers and crew from Southampton, UK, on April 10, 1912.

Whitenack said Milton Hershey and his wife, Catherine, were spending the winter in Nice, France, beginning in December 1911. The Titanic was sailing about the time that Hershey needed to return to the United States.

"He was an intensely curious person so that is what really shaped his entire life," Whitenack said.

The check that Milton Hershey wrote on Dec. 18, 1911, for $300 to White Star Lines was drawn on the Hershey Trust Company.

Hershey ultimately did not sail on the Titanic but on the German liner the Amerika on April 6 and arrived in New York on April 7.

Hershey had to return from his trip early to attend to business.

Whatever the situation was, Whitenack said, "It made him change his plans. It wasn't anything life or death or catastrophic to the business, just something came up that required his attention."

Catherine Hershey stayed behind because she was having health problems and had been seeking treatment in France and Germany.

The Hersheys traveled extensively. Their travels are documented at The Hershey Story, where the check Hershey wrote is on display.

"It's a fascinating story," Whitenack said.

What would have happened had Hershey died on the Titanic?

"Milton Hershey School would not have been been affected," Whitenack said, because his will stipulated everything would go to the school.

"How the town developed and his support of public education in the community, none of that would have happened," she said. All of the things that are considered "essentially Hershey" such as the hotel, the stadium, the golf courses, the Hershey Bears, the arena and the park - "would not have developed the way it did without his presence and leadership," Whitenack said.

"All of that was so much being led by Milton Hershey and his vision for the community. Without him the focus would have been much more on the school," she said.