I consider myself a bit of a history buff, so I was excited today to hear about a bit of Boston history I did not know had occurred.
Unfortunately, it is not at all "happy history".
January 15, 1919
Boston's Great Molasses Flood
The Great Molasses Flood, also known as the Boston Molasses Disaster or the Great Boston Molasses Flood, and sometimes referred to locally as the Boston Molassacre, occurred on January 15, 1919, in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. A large storage tank filled with 2,300,000 US gal (8,700 m3; 8,706,447 liters) (ca 12,000 tons; 10,886 metric tons; 24,000,000 lbs) of molasses burst, and the resultant wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 mph (56 km/h).
The Boston Globe reported that people "were picked up by a rush of air and hurled many feet". Others had debris hurled at them from the rush of sweet-smelling air. A truck was picked up and hurled into Boston Harbor. After the initial wave, the molasses became viscous, exacerbated by the cold temperatures, trapping those caught in the wave and making it even more difficult to rescue them.[9] About 150 people were injured, and 21 people and several horses were killed.
(Wikipedia)
Yeesh! What a mess!
Here's a good recap of the incident from History.com:
And one from Smithsonian Magazine:
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt