The Molasses Tsunami That Destroyed Boston’s North End.

On January 15ᵗʰ, 1919, a massive tank holding 2.3 million gallons of molasses had exploded, flooding Boston's north end docks with sticky molasses. Purity Distilling Company had been warned several times that the tank was creaking, leaking molasses, but the company ignored these warnings, until it was too late. Thousands of gallons flowed across Boston’s North End, resulting in several deaths. Rumor has it that on warm days, one can still smell the molasses. Thanks to Mike Meyers for the theme music, you can follow him on X @themikeshow42. Background music is: Circular Disorder by Unheard Music Concepts, Free Music Archive (CC BY) https://tinyurl.com/CircularDisorder SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS www.notyourhistoryclass.com https://www.instagram.com/notyourhistoryclass/ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566814031230 https://x.com/nyhcpodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@notyourhistoryclass SOURCES https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/great-boston-molasses-disaster-1919/ https://www.npr.org/2019/01/15/685154620/a-deadly-tsunami-of-molasses-in-bostons-north-end https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/molasses-floods-boston-streets https://www.history.com/news/the-great-molasses-flood-of-1919 https://allthatsinteresting.com/boston-molasses-flood#4 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/great-boston-molasses-flood-1919-killed-21-after-2-million-n958326 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Great-Molasses-Flood https://www.shefflaw.com/how-the-boston-molasses-flood-began-a-new-era-of-liability/ https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/27366/bostons-great-molasses-flood-1919 https://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/prohibition https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/01/15/molasses-environment-disaster-boston-harbor