Death by Molasses
Photo courtesy of the Globe Newspaper Co. (Boston Public Library)
Can you imagine what you would do if you saw a 40 foot wave of molasses coming your way at about 35 mph? Well, that exact scenario actually happened in Boston nearly 100 years ago.
The Great Molasses Flood of Boston occured on January 15, 1919, when extreme heat caused a huge cast iron storage tank holding about 2 million gallons of molasses burst open. The explosion sent molasses pouring through the streets of the North End, killing 21 people & several horses along the way. In addition to that, approximately 150 people were injured, houses and buildings in the neighborhood were destroyed and it buckled nearby railroad tracks.
Today, there is a plaque at Puopolo Park in the North End that commemorates the disaster.
Thoughts?
That sounds like a sticky situation.
hehehe
Wow. I can only imagine the cleanup took forever. And after that, no one wanted molasses cookies for a long long time.
40 ft wave of molasses? I cringed at the thought… it’s a horrible way to die
Thanks for this bit of interesting history. You know I’m a fan
OMG!! That is horrible. A sad story but can you imagine what your HAIR would be like after getting hit with that? Makes me cringe
Ok, I’ll be honest and admit that at first I laughed…..until I read about the people who died. Very tragic indeed.
What a freaky thing!
Only in Boston!
That would be awful!
that’s wild but kind of interesting. It made me click the link to find out more.
That’s craziness! My wife if from up Norwood and never told me about that. That’s very interesting.
Yeah…I know any loss of life is tragic, but seriously…a flood of molasses?! I remember learning about this in school and laughing my butt off…how can you not?!
wm
For real?! That’s crazy!
That is the craziest thing I’ve heard in a long time!! I didn’t know this story!
I can only imagine that if it had been in Southie, it may have been a 40 foot wave of beer.
All jokes aside, can you imagine if that happened today? How would the media even broadcast that?
That’s crazy. To get this mess cleaned up would have taken forever I would think.