The Molasses Tsunami
Alright, brace yourself for this crazy yarn I just unraveled – the Great Molasses Flood in Boston, in 1919. It's like a plot twist from a sugar-coated disaster movie, I swear! I can’t believe I’ve never stumbled upon this story before.
So, there was this massive molasses tank, living its best life, and suddenly, BOOM! It goes full-on sugary apocalypse, unleashing a molasses tsunami cruising through the streets at a speed that's faster than me ordering tacos at a food truck. I'm talking 35 miles per hour! A 25-foot-high wave of molasses – because regular waves are too mainstream, right?
The molasses wasn't just sitting there being syrupy… it was fermenting, getting all fizzy like your soda on a hot day. Add in a sudden temperature spike and some tank drama, and boom – disaster strikes. Talk about a sticky situation! There’s many things I know I wouldn’t want to run from, but a Molasses tsunami was never there until today – top of my list now.
Here I am, just reading over this wild story with my jaw dropped. Twenty-one people lost their lives, 150 people were injured, and the neighborhood turned into a molasses-covered disaster area. But guess what? This sugary mess actually sparked some changes. They had to rethink some construction rules because, apparently, surfing molasses waves aren’t on the city's agenda. Safety first, people!
Finding out about this had me laughing at how crazy it is and shook at the same time. Who knew molasses could be so deadly? It's like history decided to toss in a bizarre dessert chapter. So, the next time you're enjoying something sweet, appreciate the fact that it could be the other way around like the molasses flood from a hundred years ago. Sugar rush and a sticky situation – now that sounds like a tall tale.
Here’s the Wikipedia page about it.
Here’s a newspaper clipping from the New York Time reporting on it.
I also added an actual photo of the aftermath. Quite, honestly, it’s an insanely unlikely event that is a true disaster. Fiction has nothing on History.
