Almanac: Boston’s Great Molasses Flood

And now a page from our “Sunday Morning” Almanac: January 15, 1919, 98 years ago today -- the day Boston was mauled by molasses.

A huge storage tank, some 50 feet high and 90 feet wide, burst open that day, unleashing more than two million gallons of molasses.

The resulting “tsunami” flattened entire blocks, knocked a nearby firehouse off its foundation, and severely damaged an elevated rail line.

By the time it was all over, the flood had killed 21 people, injured 150 others, and caused millions of dollars in damage.

The clean-up took months, and triggered years of litigation.

And though the neighborhood has long since been rebuilt, residents claimed for many years afterwards that on hot summer days the streets still smelled faintly of … molasses.

For more info: 

• “The Sticky Science Behind the Deadly Boston Molasses Disaster” (Smithsonian magazine)
• Images courtesy of Boston Public Library