Shortly after 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 15, 1919, a steel storage tank in Boston’s North End burst and released about 2.3 million gallons of molasses into the streets. Twenty-one people died and about 150 were hurt.
The tank stood 50 feet tall and 90 feet across. Purity Distilling Company built it in 1915, and it later came under the ownership of United States Industrial Alcohol, per Smithsonian. The weather had turned that week, with temperatures rising to about 40 degrees from 2 degrees earlier, according to The Conversation.
The wave moved at about 35 miles per hour and is estimated to have stood 15 to 25 feet high at the start. “A dull, muffled roar gave but an instant’s warning before the top of the tank was blown into the air,” the Associated Press reported at the time, as quoted in a 2019 AP story. The surge knocked a firehouse off its foundation and damaged the elevated rail line, according to CBS News. About 25 horses died as well, per WBUR…