That Time Boston Drowned in Molasses

In this video we're looking at a day in January of 1919 in Boston, which was the setting for one of the more bizarre disasters to ever happen on American soil. The incident was also the impetus behind the longest court battle in the city’s history. 21 people lost their lives that day, while another 150 were seriously injured. The price tag to address the damage was in the neighborhood of $100 million dollars (adjusted for inflation). To say that the accident was devastating barely begins to convey the chaos that ensued.
For the text version and sources go here: www.todayifoundout.com/index.p...

[@rezkel7404]

That bonus fact made me bonus sad.

[@ariaalexandria3324]

Try not to think about the children who were aware that they were going to die.

[@theenzoferrari458]

Not me. Made me happy.

[@petuniafuzz9083]

@@ariaalexandria3324 The whole thing was very sad. Every life lost was a tragedy, even an old, rich lady who couldn't leave her friend to die alone.

[@johnstevenson9956]

@@petuniafuzz9083 The body of an elderly lady clutching her dog was about as sad as it gets.

[@petuniafuzz9083]

@@johnstevenson9956 Well, yeah it is sad. My eyes leaked and I got all snotty faced. Good job Simon.

[@ABArsenal]

That lady and her dog that died would have made better stars than the Titanic's star cast.

[@TodayIFoundOut]

And she really didn't ever let go. :-) Pretty confident she would have shared the door too. -Daven

[@LindaB651]

Agreed, Davin- they maybe both would've frozen, or not, together!

[@roquri]

Would have made a better story also.

[@QuixoteX]

Still a better love story than Twi...Titanic.

[@pagansailor]

Still a better game than Fallout 76.

[@jaywade6443]

The lady who stayed with her dog til the end, is a real one!!!

[@ethanfields3853]

I know that made me so sad because when I thought about it if they wouldn't let me take my dog I'd probably have gotten off the lifeboat too and stayed with him. He wouldn't leave me and he's literally my best friend. I couldn't just leave him. That or take an oar to the back of the guy in charge's head and take off anyways

[@BadGuyGoodAudioReviews]

Yup, thought same thing

[@biohazard724]

A real dumb one. Buy a new dog.

[@biohazard724]

@@4Curses I'm not throwing my life away over property

[@ethanfields3853]

@@biohazard724 you've obviously never loved/been loved by a dog the way I have and that woman was

[@aleckushmerek1757]

I remember growing up hearing this story from my mother and grandmother. My great grandfather was present for it, he told my grandmother that it was scarier than anything he'd experienced during the Spanish-American War.

[@UFBMusic]

I can see that. You can shoot a Spanish dude and he'll stop coming at you, but it won't do a damn thing to molasses.

[@jimmyshrimbe9361]

Wow, that's crazy

[@aleckushmerek1757]

@@UFBMusic Yeah, my theory is that the molasses didn't want to be eaten and decided to eat the people instead. Can't shoot a wave of brown sticky death.

[@Bacopa68]

BTW, the song "Galveston" is about a soldier having second thoughts about leaving Galveston with Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. It was a hit when it came out because it captured mixed feelings about Vietnam.

[@heyyou5189]

My grandma was a child when this happened. She spoke about it often.

[@ghostfather1390]

greetings from Boston, my Grandmother lived through this, and told me the story as a kid

[@Ravenheartless322]

Greeting from the Northshore.

[@a-bombx]

Same

[@a-bombx]

Jamaica plains. Egelston square. Roxbury.

[@edc9442]

Waltham myself.

[@cici5283]

Same here

[@hahahacorn]

I actually learned about this on a driven history tour of boston! Another fun little fact is that until around 1970, you could smell molasses on a warm summer day. It was a daily reminder for literal decades.

[@YukiTsunoda7]

*god bless the woman who stayed with her dog, they will rest, and play in paradise forever*

[@LindaB651]

Y'know, I was stoic with everything else, but that made my eyes tear up. We all know about GOOD DOGS, but sometimes, there are GOOD HOOMANS!

[@imbluedubbadee]

Love that their original solution for the leaks was just painting the whole damn thing brown so it was less obvious that it was leaking everywhere 😂😂

[@teflonbilly2909]

This was kind of a disaster that just happened. London was hit with a tidal wave of beer before. Iirc, Dublin had the same thing that happened and several folk died there in the good ol Irish tradition, alcohol poisoning

[@paulqueripel3493]

1814, St Giles, the Horse Shoe Brewery, 8 died. 1st thing I thought of when i saw this.

[@SteamingBurito]

On hot summers days you can still smell the molasses to this day.

[@BigGahmBoss]

I came down here to state the same thing.

[@sailorbychoice1]

North Shore resident here, I assure you the North End Still has a molasses smell on really hot days. Not pungent, but present.

[@OakKnobFarm]

I live within an hour of Boston. And agree: you can literally smell the tiniest bit of sweetness on the air on a really hot day in that neighborhood.

[@5.0foxbody8]

Seriously?

[@sailorbychoice1]

@@5.0foxbody8 yep

[@Judahmangi]

I guess you could call it the Boston Molassacre

[@HSAC.WDTK.DTKT.LFO.]

That joke is a bit of a pressure cooker.

[@matthewjones8798]

This is an understatedly good joke. Well played sir. 👏

[@Pythos_Sapunov]

When someone says “slow as molasses in January” ask them “you mean 35 miles per hour?”

[@Garbagejuicewaterfall]

My favorite “hot shots golf” quote!😀

[@TheStonedEvo]

I would respond “it’s heated in the tanks for distribution and the video mentioned that after the molasses dried they had to break it up with saws and broomsticks”. 🧐

[@QuixoteX]

California drivers: "Damn right!"

[@DxBlack]

@@TheStonedEvo Also says on the memorial plaque that it was "unseasonably warm", so...

[@jamesmurray4312]

It was 48° out that day and the molasses was at a near boiling temperature and the wave was actually 40ft.

[@bl8k3]

Sounds like a sticky situation.

[@BozheTsaryaKhrani]

blake littleton I was about to make that joke then i saw urs and i said screw it and did it anyway

[@Destroyer83]

More like a hot mess.

[@manicmechanic448]

And that, my friends, is why the rum is gone.

[@battlesheep2552]

But why is the rum gone?

[@Rusty160]

Why is the rum always gone

[@benmaillet7326]

manic mechanic but...why is the rum gone?

[@MichaelMiller-rg6or]

You win the internet!

[@BusterBuizel]

Sam O Nella and Today I Found Out should do a collab together. It would be awesome

[@celticwolff5429]

A stick figure Simon would be fun.

[@JinwooYoon1217]

A friend told me about this years ago. I called foul, googled it, and sure enough.

[@ashleyking6743]

Hey Simon. Great vid as always mate. Sending love from Australia 🇦🇺

[@stevec9625]

I’m a retired Boston firefighter. I was a little disappointed that the presenter never mentioned the firehouse that was knocked off its foundation trapping several men under the building and the heroism of the men that worked tirelessly to get them out. In the end they rescued several and one met a horrific death under the building. Read the book Dark Tide by Stephen Puleo for a great account of the disaster.

[@pauljackson3491]

Now we can't use the phrase, "As slow as molasses in winter."

[@cuttwice3905]

Now you know exactly how slow that is. That would get a the molasses a ticket on most streets in Denver.

[@Matt02341]

Actually you still can. That day was unseasonably hot. Almost 60 F. The volume made it semi viscous and it got everywhere.

[@allenrl43]

How slow is molasses in winter? Faster than a horse could run at a full gallop.

[@Shilo-fc3xm]

it's going to raise some questions when In ten thousand years geologists discover a strata of rock hard molasses in the fossil record.

[@jojothermidor]

It's on the internet. They'll just look it up from Mars on their quantum computer holophone.

[@Shilo-fc3xm]

@@jojothermidor Ah yes but society crashes in the year 2931 and the survivors are in the process of repopulating and rebuilding. lol.

[@jojothermidor]

@UCeRxGb3exmEr2IuJVkNQhmA ima rebuild society with deez nuts!

[@Shilo-fc3xm]

@@jojothermidor Cool, everyone will look like a beach bronzed Duke Nukem. Could be worse. LOL.

[@jojothermidor]

@@Shilo-fc3xm Do you... Know what my pfp is from? Lol Go into the KZbin search bar and type in "take back out future"

[@IntrepidFraidyCat]

I have a book about this event. It must have been so awful for the victims.

[@petergray2712]

It was awful. If the victims weren't crushed, they died from hypothermia.

[@theenzoferrari458]

No. It's funny. If they were any smarter they would've used cane sugar. Lmao. Hahahaha.

[@crybebebunny]

The molasses incident or the Titanic?

[@crybebebunny]

@Sam Bacon then it possible happen to prevent something worse been done with the molasses. Something so sweet for Something so evil. That explains why it wasn't so very well known only the people who keep it alive though word of mouth till it was in a few history books and Now the Internet. I have heard of other shame full things in our history but just things keeper alive word of mouth if not we would never know and the government would wipe this things from our shameful history.

[@IntrepidFraidyCat]

@Sam Bacon YES! They didn't make that clear in the video, did they?

[@xxXthekevXxx]

I recommend everyone check out Sam O’Nella Academy’s video “History’s Worst Non-Water Floods” which contains this story and several other very interesting true tales. Also Sam is funny af!

[@NETIERRAS]

Do as he said. Sam is is a good guy

[@LordIsaacofGlencoe]

Link?

[@jmp92688]

Love Sam and that video is great

[@The_Mimewar]

Sam o nella is a fantastic undersung channel

[@Docwilson91]

That last bonus fact was so heartbreakingly beautiful. I couldn’t imagine leaving my dogs behind in a scenario like that and I can’t put it in to words how I feel about it 😥😭

[@giantred]

Thanks for the bonus facts which left me crying.

[@stevenladew4749]

I live 45 minutes from Boston and have heard the story but thank you for the breakdown!

[@ToxicWaffle183]

I remember learning about this when i was in the fourth grade!

[@BozheTsaryaKhrani]

ToxicWaffle183 same

[@crybebebunny]

The Molasses incident ? Or the Titanic? Everyone learns of the Titanic in the USA. But I believe that it is a shame that only the locals near the molasses incident or other like it; by word of mouth. When we all can learn something.

[@ToxicWaffle183]

LBC Santiago the molasses incident, i live pretty close to boston so that’s why they taught it

[@crybebebunny]

@@ToxicWaffle183 Because of the size of the Incident they couldn't cover it up for the local in your area. Thank you and the other who speak out so we all can learn.

[@TyrannisUmbra]

I knew about this one, as a Bostonian, but the last time I remember hearing/learning about it was over 10 years ago. I'd completely forgotten until I saw the title of this video, then the memory came right back.

[@luissantiago5163]

Its crazy how many times I've heard about this. I've had to have heard this like 15 times already. Suprised how common it is around were I live.

[@user-zy1mu3mk4i]

Luis Santiago ikr I feel like we learned about it in school every year 😂

[@luissantiago5163]

@@user-zy1mu3mk4i you on the east coast too? I feel like its really common on the east coast but I'm definitely curious if its taught anywhere else.

[@mikeythesoulace]

I live in NYC and I don't ever recall hearing about this in school from my memory

[@luissantiago5163]

@@mikeythesoulace probably because I live so close to Boston then

[@thisisme2681]

I'm from the Midwest and this definitely isn't part of the typical American history curriculum

[@terenceconnors9627]

Yay! Thank you for doing this wickedly weird bit of Boston history!

[@HypnoChode]

One of my favourite crazy disasters, just unbelievable the first time you hear it.

[@DreamSheezo]

welcome back !

[@FriendshipandPonies]

Simon you are literally a king.

[@scottmantooth8785]

if i'm not mistaken this was mentioned in a very old National Enquirer years (if not decades) ago...mt grandfather used to get them and saved them... we now have a National Enquirer museum in Pigeon Forge TN...would not be surprised if this event was documented there as well...

[@TheLoxxxton]

Always happy to hear another sweet tale from the Simon.

[@mariakelly5]

I'm trying to visualize a 15 foot tall wave of molasses. Yuck.

[@brianflowers4217]

Maria Kelly traveling at 35 mph!

[@edphallion5214]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/o37NqWtmrad2ldk I read 40 feet

[@captainamerica6525]

From what I've read the smell of molasses could be smelled during the summer months for decades after the incident.

[@scottmacgovern4259]

Nice way to end that one Simon... I’m gonna go hug my dog now.

[@noon3d]

Welcome back.

[@EraineMMA]

I remember reading a children's book about this when I was very young, I never thought it had actually happened. damn.

[@Vikingwerk]

Oh man, one I already new about!

[@kris198921]

I remember reading about this in one of my school books.

[@typowers7256]

Hi I love your vids please respond

[@warrenarmstrong2154]

Bigstarbucks 1.0 no.

[@ethanfields3853]

I literally just watched the Sam O'Nella video about this yesterday

[@kieran6417]

ethan fields a man of taste 🍸

[@Crazyjn]

Today I found out that the channel Today I found out finds out about a lot of history! 😅 Props my good chap...👍

[@nothinghere7391]

Sam' Onella... THANK YOU. TIFO thank you for describing everything in a more... normal manner

[@anthonylanci]

I work in Boston's North End and the smell of Molasses is still lingering in basements that I've worked in. Pretty incredible.

[@spencerellis83]

Weird one! Where do you find these things! Cheers to you and the crew!

[@ericp9479]

That bonus fact segment was heartbreaking. 😥

[@johngingras]

If you'd like to learn more, read "Dark Tide" by Stephen Puleo. It's an excellent book on the subject.

[@crybebebunny]

Thank you. Someone who has more information. Not just a comment.

[@joannedj1]

I second that. I read “Dark Tide” earlier this year.

[@SirenaSpades]

I was unaware of this until recently when I read a fiction book, Bowlaway (which by the way, wasn't very good) but it did mention about the Boston molasses disaster in detail and a character died in the mess. So this video was great to see the truth about it and if it really happened.

[@ADAM96667]

Other people: my home state is known for a big hurricane Me: *Bruh we got a big fucking wave of molasses*

[@_bewitchedbyyaz]

I remember in college we looked at some archives on deaths in Boston and connected them to the molasses accident based on date and injuries

[@johnlovesme]

During the Big Dig in the 90s when sections of 93 were being moved underground you could definitely smell it and not only when it was hot outside.

[@jasonglisson1690]

I've never heard anything described so eloquently

[@nikigoturspine7478]

"-a dangerous orgy of pops and sparks." may be my favorite phrase from this channel.

[@gogmotis9322]

I lived in Boston for several years and didn't know this happened.

[@BostonGhost617]

Same I learned about it through a story in school I thought it was fake until about a couple years ago

[@mechanicalfruit9659]

Everyone gangsta until molasses start walking down the street

[@jimmyshrimbe9361]

That's hilarious....

[@Melissa0774]

I've heard of the molasses flood before and I've heard people say that you could still smell it for decades afterwords.

[@Scout-Fanfiction]

That's a STICKY situation! Tis sad about the loss of life though (all jokes aside). Has there been an episode done on the Halifax Explosion?

[@wroot1]

simon your mispronunciation of certain simple words never fails to amaze me

[@akumaking1]

Hey Simon, can you cover the phenomena of Florida Man?

[@gidmalu]

As someone unfortunately living in Florida, I definitely second this request🌴.

[@Primalxbeast]

Joshua Tupper They've done several videos about that on their other channel.

[@stephjovi]

@@Primalxbeast true I watched at least 3 of them today. I think it was top tenz. I don't even care I see whistler and if I don't totally dislike the topic I click

[@user-xz9fw6lk3p]

Am I crazy or do you have a really really quiet background music with vocals?

[@BusyBadger1]

Who else heard of this first from Sam O'nella?

[@chuckymcnubbin1518]

That explains why I get bogged down in that section of Boston in Fallout 4.

[@steveshoemaker6347]

That's a time...When a sweet deal went very sour... Thanks..!

[@APACHEpredator]

Top tier analogies

[@thescoobymike]

I found this out a long time ago but it was hidden away in the deep corners of my brain

[@stephjovi]

I really enjoyed the 1 Million subscriber video now its 2.08 M. Can we get another one? Introducing some authors, telling how the channel got started? A Simon whistler biography? It can start with the decision to become a KZbinr, doesn't need to contain any private Infos simply how you got to be the face of so many channels

[@TodayIFoundOut]

We've been planning on doing a live stream for that since we hit 2M, but have been crazy swamped. :-) We will though probably sometime this month.

[@stephjovi]

@@TodayIFoundOut you're just too successful it happened too fast 😂. Maybe by than it'll be for 3 M already ❤️

[@TheMalkavianmadman]

I have heard that for years after the molasses flood you could smell it on hot days.

[@geofff.3343]

Now that's what I call a sticky situation!

[@meteoman7958]

$30,000 in 1919 is the equivalent of $444,898.27 today.

[@justbarley2876]

Swear I must've seen this topic a dozen times now

[@mrexists5400]

when i first of of this disaster, i didn't think you could have that much molasses in one place, so I had a very hard time believing this could happen

[@cathya7045]

So am I the only person who knows about this because of good eats LOL

[@michaelhawthorne8696]

Another Bonus fact.....The kennel was situated in the rear funnel which didn't have a function as a funnel, only as a kennel

[@aodhganmerrimac]

When I was a kid in the 70s, on hot summer days you could sometimes smell molasses. Our parents told us it was from the Great Molasses Flood. I was actually from a fruit syrup distributor-but we believed it!

[@lightbox617]

There is a town in upstate NY, near Syracuse, called Solvay. The home of the factory Solvay Process. arm and Hammer made baking soda there. There was a lot of un useable watste product that was pumped into holing pools One day, around 1935, a pool broke.

[@robj7481]

I would imagine that the survivors of that tragedy have “bitter sweet” memories? The builder of the tank was heard to say, “This sticky mess could have been avoided if someone had only inspected my erection.”

[@Duncan_Idaho_Potato]

OMG, I LOVE eating molasses! And the moles seem to enjoy it, too!

[@joannivaldi2106]

Omg! This was a sad video all around! Those poor people and horses in Boston drowning in molasses and the people and dogs drowning from the Titanic! It's heartbreaking!

[@saragrant9749]

Correction- it was not the preferred sweetener, it was actually used in the manufacture of munitions for the war. The problem was the war had just ended, resulting in a surplus. The tank was actually overfilled which helped contribute to the disaster. The hoop stress in the straps around the tank wasn’t even close to being enough. Engineers around the country learned a valuable lesson.

[@jaaykaay]

Now that's what I call *A Sticky Situation*

[@Erin-Thor]

That was a sticky situation! (Ducking) 🤪

[@scottmantooth8785]

yes...you should be ducking for that one

[@Erin-Thor]

Scott Mantooth - Awe, I guess I am too easily amused. 😁

[@scottmantooth8785]

@@Erin-Thor you're in good company no doubt

[@4Curses]

She rather died together with her dog than leaving him behind. Thats love and true loyalty.

[@hairutheninja]

Great video up till the super sad dog story, that was like the begining of up all over again

[@demandred1957]

HA! I actually knew about this one, before TIFO released this.

[@karlagonzalez1985]

Mad respect for that old lady

[@marcelaharrop9925]

That was the saddest bonus fact you’ve done... 🥺

[@robertsonmcnaughton4850]

What a sticky situation

[@shadowprince4482]

Now that's what I call a sticky situation....

[@RASK1904]

I already found this out on a different day.

[@Swoop187OG187]

I love these videos but I already know of 75% of the happenings er ideas you make videos about... It kinda sucks (because I want to learn interesting things), however at least I get an in depth look or more information on these topics at hand than I learned before..... As far as this fiasco - this is one of the weirdest disasters of all time..... Imagine walking down the street one day just going to the store to grab a newspaper and some milk and bread and you meet your demise by drowning in molasses.... Geez what are the odds of that? crazy....

[@ericbnielsen]

Supposedly on hot summer days you can still smell the molasses in the west end.

[@scottmullen7351]

To this day, on hot summer days, you can still smell the molasses.

[@kinglerxstbtpc]

Truth is stranger than fiction. If anyone else had told me this story, I wouldn't have believed it!

[@vampyrjack]

What were the Tokyo Fire Bombings and why are they almost never mentioned when discussing World War II and the US war effort on Japan?

[@copperhamster]

It is claimed that on hot summer days there is still a sickeningly cloying sweet smell in the area. I read somewhere that air samples taken on hot days did have minute traces of odorants found in molasses.

[@andrew5576]

I seen the title and just had to click.

[@BozheTsaryaKhrani]

Andrew Holcombe the title put u in a sticky situation

[@glenngriffon8032]

I'm an idiot because I just realized the neon WS sign behind Simon is actually SW; Meaning Simon Whistler.

[@ellomoto231]

Take a shot every time he says "molasses"

[@gh0stm0nst3r6]

Dude. This just made my conspiracy alarm go off. I wonder how much this influenced or exacerbated the Boston accent. Try to speak aloud and plug your nose as to not smell the air. Now imagine People from Boston doing just that. Think something like this could affect a region if everybody in an area did something similar? For example, if everybody in Boise Idaho all of a sudden started speaking with a Scottish accent, how much would that affect the children of those people (and the language in general in the area) from that point forth? Hm. Okay, I'm done thinking aloud on the internet for the day.

[@gbrown3783]

Boise here woohoo

[@chrisbrooke5854]

Children pick up language and speech nuances from their parents and peers, so yes if everyone started talking in a Scottish accent so too would the children. Interestingly this doesnt take long, even in adults. Average time for a child to develop an accent upon moving to a new area is 6 months with adults taking a little longer.

[@chevychase3103]

Are you outside of the box?