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quislibetI overheard some people on the T saying they were going to a lecture on the Boston Molasses Flood, and expressing some ignorance over just what that was (so I suppose it was a good thing they were going to a lecture on it).
Today is the 85th anniversary of the great molasses disaster, when a large holding tank of molasses (for the rum trade; consider, if you will, the irony that this happened quite literally on the eve of Prohibition, which was ratified by the last state, Nebraska, the next day), in the vicinity of the present-day Aquarium, exploded (from unseasonable heat, perhaps; something else to think about longingly today, but the owners blamed Bolsheviks) and the resulting flood killed 21 people, snapped the supports of an elevated railway, and sunk a boat, and left Boston smelling like molasses for decades after.
Next time you hear the phrase "slow as molasses in January," inform the speaker that that speed can in fact be as much as 35 miles an hour.
Today is the 85th anniversary of the great molasses disaster, when a large holding tank of molasses (for the rum trade; consider, if you will, the irony that this happened quite literally on the eve of Prohibition, which was ratified by the last state, Nebraska, the next day), in the vicinity of the present-day Aquarium, exploded (from unseasonable heat, perhaps; something else to think about longingly today, but the owners blamed Bolsheviks) and the resulting flood killed 21 people, snapped the supports of an elevated railway, and sunk a boat, and left Boston smelling like molasses for decades after.
Next time you hear the phrase "slow as molasses in January," inform the speaker that that speed can in fact be as much as 35 miles an hour.
