The Boston Molasses Disaster of 1919

[@manthony1956]

Over forty years ago I worked for a company that retailed Muskin and Doughboy above ground pools. And you always had people who just wanted to put them up in their backyards as quick as possible. When we put them up for customers, we always leveled the area, and provided a sand base under the liner. People always complained about the costs, and "that sand is killing my lawn.' "It's only water." Well, each gallon of water is 8.34 pounds, and your 30 ft diameter pool holds about 19,000 gallons. It's not neurosurgery to figure out that's a lots of force. Every cubic yard weighs about what the original Volkswagen Beetle did, so, when you see that water coming toward your home because you put your pool up incorrectly, imagine a VW Beetle coming towards your sliding glass doors at 35 mph...

[@dennisammann9104]

I recall as a 6 year old kid, back in 1957 having so much fun in a 'Doughboy' above ground swimming pool at a friend's home. It seemed like a giant ocean to me. My first car was a 1967 VW Beetle that I bought used in 1972. Great fun in that pool, great car that I owned until 1979. Your comment had double the affect on my ability to image a 1967 Beetle coming at my friend's living room window, not far from that swimming pool! Great comment Mr. Manthony1956! A little sticky, but GREAT history story Mr. History Guy!

[@manthony1956]

@@dennisammann9104 I owned my last Beetle in 1994. I owned five Beetles between 1974 and 1994, and a fastback. I can honestly same I am overly familiar with the Beetle and repairs. Still have my copy of "How to Repair your Volkswagen. For the Compleat Idiot.

[@johnmcmickle5685]

I used to watch Doughboy take advertising photos at the plant located behind my office. they would have people out there on a cold day getting in and out of those pools for the photos. They had plant on pallets so they could move them from pool to pool for land scaping. I do not know what the original VW bug weighted but a Cubic yard of ware weights about 1686 pounds.

[@wistals3deniks]

manthony1956 Imagine how much more easy this calculation would be without retard units.

[@peterwright4647]

A friends above ground pool failed and the rush of water pushed his garage wall in. Lots of force there once it starts moving!

[@curtisstewart9594]

I work on these above ground storage tanks. In fact, I am in the process of upgrading a original 1920 Chicago Bridge and Iron 117'-6" diameter tank for crude oil storage. It was moved to its present location in 1942 for oil storage in Gaines County Texas. By the next inspection/repair cycle this tank will be 110 years old. Pretty good for a riveted tank. The Boston disaster is believed to have been caused by overfilling with material heaver than the designed liquid. The tank could have safely sustained a load of liquid with a specific gravity of 1.0(water). Instead the specific gravity of liquid molasses of 1.4. That is 40% more than the tank was designed to hold. The operator had regularly overfilled the tank probably increasing the cause of failure. The rivet holes were cold punched which was the process of the day. This resulted in cold working of the edge. Due to rudimentary quality control when the steel plate was made it has always been suspected the point of failure was caused by an anomaly in the steel plate at the rivet hole and brittle fracture of the cold worked plate. The temperature changes and time if year points toward this. The failure in January 2, 1988 in Pennsylvania spilling 1 million gallons of diesel into the Monongahela shed light on this tanks suspected failure. The closed vent is now believed to be only a secondary contributor to the failure. These riveted tanks were built with a safety factor of 5 where mass and thickness were substituted for engineering knowledge. Today we have the luxury of poo pooing what happened then. But the definitive book on Above Ground Storage Tanks was not written until 1997. American Petroleum Society 12C and 650 were not published until after WW2 and the first riveted standard was published in 1936. Even today there is no such thing as a Above Ground Storage Tank engineer. Most come from mechanical or civil engineering disciplines. A truly fascinating but obscure subject in my field of endeavor.

[@TreeTop1947]

I enjoyed reading your comment, Curtis. Thanks for posting it. Semper Fi, TreeTop

[@equarg]

Curtis Stewart I live in Gaines County Texas! 😅 Thanks for ensuring that tanks are made/ensuring they are safe. It’s amazing what past disasters were forgotten, and the lessons they taught us. People complain about “big government and regulations”. I tell them about this disaster, the Halifax disaster, the Coconut Grove disaster in Boston, and the forgotten turn of the century Iroqui theater fire. The Iroqui Fire occurred in a massive theater during a X-Mas performance. Was rated safe and fire proof. Even had asbestos curtains. But a fire was caused by a lamp, the place was over capacity, and the exists were blocked and locked to prevent people from sneaking in. Over 400 people, mostly women and children, died. The nation was so shocked theaters across the country were suddenly closed, inspections were done, and new regulations were made. A new invention you see on emergency exits, the Panic Bar was invented as a result. People can’t enter the building, but simple pressure on a metal bar would cause the door to open. Sadly, this only applied to theaters. It was not until the Coconut Grove on Boston did these rules about occupancy and proper fire exits get applied to restaurants and other public buildings. Over 300 died in that fire. The exits had been bricked up (mafia fears from owner) and the doors only opened in, not out. So the doors could not be pulled in by the panicking people trying to get out due to the “Crush” behind them from desperate people. Thick windows forced firefighters to watch people helplessly die right in front of them. It was so traumatizing that the city and nation rewrote the fire code. The city of Boston even banned the name “Coconut Grove” to ever be used. Look up “Triangle Coat Fire”, “The Station Fire” too. A news camera man was there and he caught on film the fire starting due to outdoor pyrotechnics being used inside. Dear God. You can see the ”Crush” of human bodies at the door, dying. So after I tell those stories, the people don’t complain about “government meddling” as much. Some regulations, like the fire code, are not written in ink. They are written in blood!

[@curtisstewart9594]

@@TreeTop1947 thanks for reading my little missive. The oldest I ever worked on was a 1897 Graver tank built for Standard Oil in East Chicago. Just east of the Whiting Refinery. Put a new bottom in and caulked all the rivets. This was in 1995. The tank remained in service until 2015 when it was took down and scrapped. I always felt good it got another 20 years of service. Just like the one I am on now. With any luck it will still be in service in 20 more years and I probably will be gone by then.

[@MajorMalfunction]

Regulations may be different in your part of the world, but here you're required to have bunding (raised earth dams all around the storage facility) which can contain _at least_ the volume of the largest tank. And can be isolated from sewer and stormwater systems. As well as being well away from commercial or residential areas.

[@ryandavis7593]

Curtis Stewart This is exactly the way I feel about the forty to seventy five year old locomotives I work on. If I can make them last another twenty five years I have done well.

[@dougcapehart]

As soon as he said the "construction to be overseen by Arthur P Jell, their financial advisor," I knew 90% of the story.

[@PhilJonesIII]

An accountant cutting costs? Whoever heard of such a thing?

[@raydunakin]

@@PhilJonesIII Not just the cost-cutting, but the total lack of engineering knowledge.

[@PhilJonesIII]

@@raydunakin Absolutely! I've seen engineering companies relocate to other countries where safety regulations are either absent or weak. The result: No safety equipment (as in guards on moving parts). The same companies that boast about how much effort they put into protecting employees.

[@willdejong7763]

@Andy Peek To make matters worse, it's not just that profit rules, but short term profit. As an example, the money saved by rushing the 737 MAX's initial development and certification is dwarfed by the long term costs. But of course the managers and exectives have already collected their bonuses.

[@frameshade]

The tank held. Issues was with the closed pressure release valve.

[@Soundwave3591]

This event is very close to home for my family: my Great Grandfather was nearly a victim of the spill, had he not swapped shifts. The man he swapped with was killed.

[@lsusmuggler]

Was your grandparent, his child, born yet?

[@nickw7619]

Thats incredible

[@bugzyhardrada3168]

Yeah i can imagine that haunted you for a good chunk if your life

[@Soundwave3591]

@@lsusmuggler I don't think he was, which makes it all the more poignant

[@jimmyfortrue3741]

@Soundwave3591 .... I heard some places around there still smell like molasses... Is that true?

[@davidurban4730]

As a Civil engineer we learn about this case every so often in our Engineering Ethics seminars.

[@evensgrey]

I suspect that you studied every incident the Ideas program that went over this disaster also covered in some class or seminar, such as the Citigroup Center non-disaster, the business with the road bridge in New York State that collapsed because some bureaucrat decided that replacing the rip-wrap around the pier bases wasn't important enough to spend money on (luckily with no loss of life because it had a properly engineered failure mode that alerted everyone well before it fell), or the collapse of the bridge in the lobby of the Kansas City Hyatt-Regency.

[@Harshhaze]

In almost every story I've read so far, it either includes a company cutting corners or ignoring other safety concerns On a lighter note, the London sewage system still has remnants of the original construction. The Engineer (Joseph Bazalgette) had calculated the dimensions needed for the sewage to service 1800's London, and then doubled it

[@vtkruza4733]

I’m

[@johnhenke6475]

@@Harshhaze I have seen the drainage systems they built for the creeks and rivers that run under London now. The brick work is amazing and still in beautiful condition. Nothing like building something the right way.

[@lisahinton9682]

@@johnhenke6475 John, how did you get to see it? I would love to see it if it's on KZbin. TIA.

[@Hiatus3309]

Most sticky uncomfortable for OCD. Geeze, it's got to be worst, feeling most annoyed, longest sticky feeling that won't go away

[@majorlee76251]

Thanks, I asked for this one. I can remember as a kid my father telling me this. Ah the days of old Boston!.

[@SeanFKennedy]

Same with my dad. He says on hot days you can still smell the molasses. I'm not sure that is true but still sounds like a story dad's everywhere like to tell.

[@bo_392]

i have important stuff to do, but a "Molasses Disaster" story must come first.

[@jeffsweeney8785]

...kind of slows things down a bit. hehehe

[@IrishAnnie]

Bo And you’re the better for it!

[@KansaiSamurai]

The molasses moved down the street at 35mph. Now we know how fast molasses is in January!

[@jonrolfson1686]

There must have been some well prepared person standing nearby with a pot of precooked bacon, beans and onion at the ready.

[@kencarp57]

@@jonrolfson1686 Well, it WAS Boston, so... :)

[@goodun2974]

I have read elsewhere that the clean up was complicated because the warm spell ended and all of the molasses froze and turned the streets and sidewalks into a glassy, slippery surface, you risked your back and neck trying to walk on it.

[@n04t73]

luckily police had just laid out a speed trap earlier, clocking the wave well over allowed limits for the sugary substance.

[@b1laxson]

Perspective... human running speed is ~25 mph. Molasses can catch you!

[@LMacNeill]

There was a TV show called "Engineering Disasters" on the History Channel -- you know, back when the History Channel actually covered *HISTORY,* and wasn't just another high-numbered cable channel with "reality" crap being broadcast 24/7. Anyway, on that show, *many* years ago now, they featured an episode about this disaster. So surprising how many things have to go wrong at the same time for a disaster like this to happen. Thanks for reminding us of this important historical event, History Guy!

[@vinyltapelover]

LMacNeill Yep I hate the reality garbage also. Thanks for mentioning where you viewed the story. I couldn;t remember, when making an earlier comment. I forgot that it was replayed on the History Channel about 3 weeks ago. I haven't had a chance to view this video's version, yet, because I'm recording a daily radio broadcast from over the internet. I can't listen to one while the other is recording. Anyway, THC's version showed a map of movement of the molasses, of rum and slaves as part of the business and the purpose of molasses. Like many, I hadn't known until view the THC episode Now that it's here, I can refer this easily to others. Have a great day..

[@LMacNeill]

@@vinyltapelover Yeah, I like THG's unique perspective on things. He delved into some details that the History Channel show didn't. I always enjoy learning more facts about an event, when possible. This is definitely one of my favorite channels on KZbin.

[@carebear8762]

Today's History Channel would focus on the possible "Aliens?!" connection and have a "how to swim in molasses" reenactment.

[@sabrinatscha2554]

Are you talking about the Holocaust Channel?

[@nicholashursh9594]

I loved that show, Tales of the gun was another good one. Its a shame history Channel is what it is now but KZbin and podcasts have pretty much filled that gap.

[@everythingstemporary603]

The tank is leaking! That's OK, we'll paint it brown.

[@defective.6192]

@@bobrennan9841 Well this totally seems legit.

[@sodoffbaldrick3038]

My grandmother was a young nurse in Boston, and had very recently been through the Influenza pandemic in the city, and then this. She had been a little girl in San Francisco's 1906 earthquake, and she said though on a much smaller scale, this reminded her in many ways of that horror. She made fabulous molasses cookies when I was a child, but I remember her always talking about this when she poured the molasses.

[@garryturgiss8551]

Thanks for remembering that. My grandmother told me about it when I was little. She was from the area and remembered when it happened

[@valeriehyman9955]

My grandfather owned a laundry business and was making deliveries and on that day his horse refused to go any further on their delivery route and returned to his stable. My mother was told this story by her father and it is in our family history book that my niece put together in 2008.

[@seanshea8596]

My favorite little factoid from the reports of this event is that the Molasses Flood made everything around it sticky. But humans tracked the stickiness everywhere. Due to trains, Sticky foot prints were reported as far inland as Worcester MA 45 miles inland.

[@pitsnipe5559]

I remember reading about this in Reader’s Digest while in Jr. High School in the mid sixties. The story said that when the weather us just right you can still smell the molasses in The North End.

[@DennisinMA]

Ed Springer Yes you can. To this very day.

[@ronfad1756]

I have worked in the North End and been in a few old basements and yes you can still smell the molasses that soaked into the wood.

[@raydunakin]

That's where I read about it too!

[@MrTruckerf]

I read that same article but I had forgotten many of the details. I thought it happened in Texas.

[@randyleiter]

Absolutely true! I remember a while back the city was doing some work in the park near there on a really hot summer day, it wasn’t to strong but you could smell it.

[@GaldirEonai]

On a related note: There was also a great _beer_ flood in London a hundred years prior. A brewery's tanks burst, with 8 people killed (mostly from being crushed by the debris the tidal wave of booze was pushing in front of it).

[@welltell.]

(insert joke here) I thought the 8 people died from alcohol poisoning from drinking too much beer that was floating away.

[@welltell.]

@@mike62mcmanus Were the drunks rolling face down or face up? lol

[@jefferyindorf699]

All that beer wasted😢😭

[@MrTruckerf]

Yes. When it washed into the Thames, many fish died of..........Cirrhosis of the River. I will show myself out.

[@JulieWallis1963]

GaldirEonai kinda sad that that the beer flood has disappeared into the vaults of time, but the Forgotten beer flood of London doesn’t have the same ring as the Great fire of London.

[@peterunnels3311]

And on hot days in Boston you can still smell the molasses coming from the streets and the buildings that were there at the time.

[@timc4765]

Liar

[@CheeZyNutZ]

No you cant😂🤡

[@PB_pancake]

@@CheeZyNutZhave you actually been there?

[@bradpitt69]

cap

[@bfaymous]

You could for a few years after the accident, but you can’t smell it now.

[@g3heathen209]

Legend says to this day 100 years later, on a hot day the faint smell of molasses can still be dected in the area on hot days.

[@toosiyabrandt8676]

HI Yes! It would have permeated EVERYTHING! Shalom to us only in Christ Yeshua.

[@edmundcarter2610]

Absolutely that is a FACT and not just a local legend. I confirmed this personally when I was in Boston on three different occasions during the Summer months of 2009, 12 and 16. The smell is light to moderate but definitely was present.

[@markmeyer6800]

Levi Langershank bruh right!

[@jenny2245]

Apparently there were certain areas in Paris that dogs, cats, horses etc wouldn't voluntarily go, or couldn't be kept calm, for many decades after the revolution. They had been the locations of guillotines, & the animals could still smell the blood in the pavement. It's surprising how smells can linger in a place.

[@ddivincenzo1]

My paternal granddad worked in the area and confirmed this. He stated on hot days the smell was unmistakable even through the 1950s. I imagine that it could be detected these days as well.

[@TheParamotorGuy]

I have known the story of the great molasses flood but I had no idea just how massive the storage tank was until I saw that photo of it. And to top it off, finding out that molasses is 40% more dense than water makes it a more respectable story.

[@honodle7219]

Puts a whole new spin on "slow as molasses in January".

[@bonniemccormack1361]

lmao I didn't even think of that

[@haroldwilkes6608]

The phrase actually came from this disaster...

[@vilstef6988]

I've heard numerous accounts of this disaster, and it has to be one of the strangest human caused disasters anywhere or any time!

[@bobsofia68]

Growing up in Massachusetts I would see snippets of info about the 'Molasses Disaster' throughout the years. One memorable piece was interviewing older folks who grew up in the area of the disaster. It was said on hot summer days some areas of the neighborhood effected smelled of molasses well into the 1970's.

[@blondbowler8776]

I never would have known about this without you. Thank you.

[@ironmantravisfulton4058]

I knew a man who was a history professor from Boston. He said on hot days you could smell molasses in this area well into the 1980s and 90s

[@MrTruckerf]

Many say you can STILL smell it.

[@rhondahuggins9542]

I learned little history in school. It was dates and names...no context to my world it seemed. It was only as an adult and better resources that history began to be fascinating. Thank you History Guy for always providing perspective and context.💜

[@wwar5237]

I read about this about 5 years ago. I love telling people about it, so many find it hard to believe. definitely needs to be remembered 🤘

[@The_Highlander001]

I live in Boston, and growing up, in the summer we could smell the Molasses. When they work on the streets of the North End they always encounter a layer of Molasses under the road, and sidewalk.

[@DavidPowisDow]

My family is from Boston and the ‘great molasses flood’ is a legend in my family over a hundred years later.

[@momcat2223]

Came looking for this comment. Had heard this was true, but am glad to hear from an actual Bostonian that this isn't an urban legend.

[@nevermorefrompast-qx5wb]

@@momcat2223 tis true

[@ExilefromCrownHill]

There is still one building standing that has the high-water mark, er molasses, stained on it, visible to the public. Thanks, THG, I hope it was my suggestion from many months ago that prompted you to do this well-researched presentation!

[@assessor1276]

The Boston molasses tank collapse was one of the first detailed analysis of a failure that involved brittle fracture of a metallic structure and it contributed to the development of the science of fracture mechanics. This is quite different from normal quasi-static structural analysis and it is a crucial technique in the design of aircraft, ships and other large metal structures.

[@deadfreightwest5956]

Leaving a technical project to the hands of a financial advisor ... some things never change. When will we learn?

[@rom65536]

Come on, buddy - don't you know we need to de-regulate! All these little nit-picky, tree-hugging rules are strangling business! (/sarcasm)

[@jokuvaan5175]

We usually learn when enough people are killed to make people angry and demand change from the policy makers. But we have a bad habit of forgetting the history end up repeating it

[@kateackerly6559]

No kidding that.🙄

[@shawnr771]

I could say something political but I wont. You are however spot on.

[@VideoCesar07]

@@rom65536 It's a shame that there is always a big tug of war that unfortunately politicians use for their own ends. You have the ones who use disasters like this to put in regulations that are way over the top and increase costs and red tape to the point where it really can become hard to innovate or get into a particular field. Then you have the other ones who remove all regulations and say that businesses are responsible and have the best interest of their customers and will never deliberately endanger them ( extra helping of sarcasm there ). A happy medium can be found but policy makers are not interested in compromise.

[@nickford17]

I just noticed the "THG" flag can easily be misconstrued as "THC", I immediately thought The History Guy was a lot cooler than I had previously...

[@primoaurelius]

I thought the same thing.

[@tz8785]

Sidenote - An episode on the history of cannabis (including the lies leading to its prohibition) would be pretty awesome.

[@quanbrooklynkid7776]

Haha

[@nicklacerte7134]

I like your old openings.

[@davidcooke8005]

Dude, the History Guy is so cool you can store ice in his pockets.

[@johncopple6479]

Love " The History Guy " !! I have watched many episodes. One of my favorites is about Sgt. Reckless USMC! Semper Fi.

[@gus473]

That was a great episode and a favorite of mine, too! My dad, on a 70 mm recoilless rifle, served with Reckless in the First Marine Division!

[@stevenpressley5956]

If you haven't already done it, please do the history of denim. I live in North Carolina near the old Cone Denim Mills. So much history here..

[@dougjb7848]

This right here. Why was “denim blue” so prevalent that it has its own Pantone ID (17-4021 for Faded Denim, 19-4118 for Dark Denim) How did the pockets get their shape? Why do women’s jeans have few or no pockets? Who / what led the change in social perception that blue jeans are for laborers, thugs and (maybe a stretch but don’t all good stories involve) pirates, to runway wear?

[@thefareplayer2254]

As a Bostonian, I am honored that you covered this!

[@timmmahhhh]

In Boston it cover you.

[@alexbuss3377]

I appreciate all of the time and effort you put into these videos! We all do!

[@rom65536]

We had to study this in my Industrial Safety Management class. A ' Wave of Molasses" sounds funny...but good Lord, this event would be terrifying in person. Every time I hear some knucklehead complain about OSHA, safety regulations or environmental law, I think of this and the Triangle Shirt Waste Factory fire.

[@nottmjas]

There was a rather obnoxious individual on a construction health and safety I once attended who considered the whole premise of H&S as a waste of time and money for companies, that those who got killed or hurt deserved it for not paying enough attention, and that he was treating the event as a jolly. One of other attendees shut him up by stating that the hardest thing he ever had to do in his life was finding the strength to knock on the door of one of his employee's house to inform his wife that she had just become a widow.

[@RKrk-jj2li]

@@nottmjas that guy sounds like a real jerk!

[@pitsnipe5559]

When I was taking the class to become an OSHA Outreach instructor, the instructor of that class used a fire in a poultry plant where several people were killed because an exit was blocked as a case study. What made it hit home was when she revealed that one of the fatalities was her cousin.

[@briangarrow448]

@@nottmjas I've gone to more funerals than I should have because someone took the cheaper or quicker solution to a construction problem. Yes, we absolutely need health and safety regulations. Which is another reason to vote for candidates who support worker issues.

[@evensgrey]

@@asbestosfibers1325 The most obvious problem with OSHA is the observation that there's an inflection point in the graph of the rate of industrial injuries in incidents when they came into force, and the rate of decline dropped to almost nothing. Businesses care about financial risk, like what comes from appropriate tort law for death and injury on the job. As one of the coal mining companies in the Province of Nova Scotia once said, "We can't afford to operate an unsafe mine."

[@mrmike2119]

Best report/explanation of this disaster I have ever heard. Thank you.

[@Thresher]

This is a really good one. I'd like to see deep dives into the Halifax and Texas City explosions. They were incredible industrial disasters that could have easily been avoided.

[@katiekofemug]

This is one I missed during my many binge watchings. Tasting History with Max Miller had an old video on Brown Bread and this disaster. I noticed THG vid recommended by KZbin so, of course, I HAD to come over, see and hear! Thank you for always reminding us of the relevant. Big Biz accountability is an ongoing struggle and it is indeed a disaster that such horrible things have to happen to even consider new regulations in legislative bodies, locally and nationally. These episodes you work so hard on, DOES demand history be remembered!

[@robertminard5191]

I had suggested this subject to THG some time ago. I was glad to see it this morning. Some of the injuries were just horrific. Bones broken and smashed. People in body casts suspended in twisted traction. My grandmother said that for years, people could smell the molasses on a hot summer day.

[@shereygould9307]

I lived 6 years in Boston back in the 80s (Southie and Dorchester) and learned more about this event in your 11 minutes than in all that time exploring around the area... thank you!

[@catherineyoung3889]

"The end of an era when big business faced no government restriction on their activities, and no consequences". Actually, we'll call it the start of the temporary hiatus.... cuz it seems to me big business gets away with anything these days.

[@pamelal7487]

Well done. I hit the like button even before you started talking. I had a great aunt who survived it. She was a tough old bird, loved to eat molasses and bread but obsessive about awareness and safety. No surprise there. Thanks for a good, solid video.

[@johndumont3114]

"The tank was painted brown to hide leakage." Rumored to be the same reason Hitler wore brown pants... Great video as always, Mr. History Guy. I always learn something new.

@@asbestosfibers1325 it's not a legend it's a joke.

[@pmboord]

Thank you for the opportunity to learn something new.

[@chocolatefrenzieya]

"Unidentified girl, about 12" ugh, the horror. :(

[@leftofyou]

I remember randomly coming across this incident in an old newspaper researching unrelated topics. It must have been a surreal day.

[@kbjerke]

Wow. "Slower than molasses" holds a new meaning for me now. And respect. Thanks for the video!

[@linusowens2858]

THIS is why I watch your channel! Another amazing video.

[@thejudgmentalcat]

Headline "Kitten Survived" helped me get through this.

[@ChadDidNothingWrong]

That would make you like 110 years old

[@thejudgmentalcat]

@@ChadDidNothingWrong My, aren't we edgy

[@DavidSmith-sb2ix]

Years ago we had a fire that burned the upper floors of an old building in our downtown. There was a book store on the first floor and apartments above it. Several days after the fire the inspector found a cat hiding under an old heating radiator in a burned room, alive and in relatively good shape. I always thought that lucky cat used up a few of its nine live surviving that fire.

[@sharonmullins1957]

I caught that too!

[@RC.41]

Levi Langershank Smash your own head completely please. You won’t be missed by anyone.

[@GardensGuitars]

This is one of the most interesting stories in history. I knew of this, but you really brought the history to life, thanks for sharing this!

[@ralphhildreth6115]

Some would consider it a frivolous documentary, but the consequences that resulted in the incident changed the legal responsibilities of companies. Another great and well told video!

[@altair458]

Thank you. I was first made aware of this in a high school history class...I sure wish that you had been my history teacher. Keep up the good work, we love your channel.

[@briangarrow448]

I worked as a journeyman boilermaker for years and we built tanks and pressure vessels. Thank goodness there are safely standards for tank building today.

[@robertreisner6119]

If I remember correctly in 1934 the late comedian W.C Feilds had his own molasses problem in his movie It's A Gift.Thank you for your wonderful podcasts, they are informative, entertaining and a joy to view. Please stay happy and healthy during this pandemic.

[@verdatum]

When I first learned about this, I had nightmares for DAYS. I still don't let myself think about it in too much detail; it's just horrifying.

[@treybryant7863]

I remember this exact story. I’ve been to Boston. Me and my family had to hike across the streets of Boston just to get to the former North End of Boston. There’s only a plaque to remember the Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919.

[@anthonyvandeist2857]

And to this day a Bostonian will shudder when they hear someone say, "..like molasses in the middle of winter."

[@carolynking9536]

I visited the museum in Dallas, NC to read about this. I photographed the plaque with what you have reported on my phone. This is one of the most amazing stories I have ever heard. Thank you for airing this story!

[@hazelkagey6739]

That was sooooo facinating! How much more convenient it would've been if it had just leaked into the Boston harbor. Who could've ever thought such a chain of events could happen? Rivets exploding, like bullets being fired! Makes you wonder if the fishing business was effected for a long time. What a mess.

[@frankieknuckles9610]

Probably all the fish in the area would become diabetic.

[@randyrick8019]

The lobster from the bay were particularly fat and sweet the following year! lol

[@troynewly]

Thank you, Mr. History Guy

[@sf-jim8885]

I remember some years ago when somebody first told me about this and about how much property and lives were lost, I thought it was some sort of urban legend or perhaps even a hoax- - but after looking it up, I was fascinated by the story. A couple of years ago I saw a book about it on Amazon and I bought it. Some of the photos were absolutely amazing. I especially recall one in which entire train cars had been knocked off their tracks by the wall of molasses. The book went in to quite a bit of detail - - for those who were unfortunate enough to perish, it was a horrible way to die.

[@geneva760]

Excellent documentary - thank you. Have a nice and safe day all. CHEERS from AUSTRALIA.

[@froush9546]

I love the new intro flag with music. I know of a part of Appalachian history that you might want to share. It involves the largest civil insurrection since the civil war. After the prosperous years of coal mining that had moved west to the Appalachians, it declined after WWI. The "Owners" passed their losses onto the miners, cutting wages and controlling them using a script, and evicting them from their company homes, gunning them down, etc...you know the deal. The miners finally took up arms and fought against this including the United States Army which dropped bombs on the miners during the conflict. One of the pilots was Billy Mitchell himself.

[@moderndaywyattearp5792]

I remember reading about this in a book. It had no imagery of the event. And I appreciate the care and passion you have for the subject of history.

[@MrDoeboy356]

I used to live nearby. On hot days you can still smell molasses in that area. There’s a park there now.

[@MrTruckerf]

SWEET!

[@FuncleChuck]

I’ve heard this story many times and been even more horrified by each retelling

[@billjohnson6300]

Thanks for doing this piece. I served in the US Coast Guard, base Boston from '76 to '78, just blocks from this historic site. Your thorough analysis and presentation went far and beyond anything I have read about this in the past. Great work History Guy!

[@lindamarquis6117]

Very interesting ! A wave 25 feet high of molasses is hard to imagine . It sounds like something from a horror movie ! Those poor people, what a terrible way to die. Thanks for this important historical account.

[@penelopelopez8296]

What about the poor horses who could have been saved but they killed them instead because they couldn’t be bothered. How would you like to be shot while still fully alive but struggling to get out of that sticky crap. How would like that?

[@atlbrysco6198]

I have known about this disaster for years and it always amazes me that so few people today remember, care or know about it. I got the chance to visit the North End in Boston, and when you walk down the streets by some of the building that were there when this happened, you can actually see a line "etched" in the brick that shows the level of the molasses when it ran down that particular street or alley-way. In some places, it's almost four feet! I weep for those people that were lost and the horses that had to be put down; while it's great it was the start of business accountability, we still haven't gotten anywhere close to holding their feet to the fire when justified.

[@victorhoe2321]

We did a tour of Boston's heritage walk. We heard about the molasses disaster of 1919. Now I know the score. Thanks.

[@michaelmcnally1242]

The place where it happened is very close to the Copps Hill Cemetery, which is just up the hill from the front of the Old North Church. We used to stay around there on family vacations, and now that area is an urban park. In other words, it's a 5 minute walk at most from the "red line" trail through the city.

[@janineharrison5186]

I've heard of the Molasses Flood but never experienced the information so in depth. Wonderful! I'm watching your video about the Influenza. Both of my great grand father's died. Left numerous children and wives before government assistance.

[@DrBill-zv5dx]

Why would anyone give a thumbs down . This man is teaching the ignorant the history of the world . Great channel and thanks for your expertise, wisdom and knowledge.

[@IrishAnnie]

Dr. Bill There are too many haters. On Cash Cab, three young women didn’t know what happened on Dec 7th 1941. I blame super bad education.

[@joetemple533]

I asked you to do an episode on this several months ago as I could not find very many details on it. You sir, have done an outstanding presentation with many details and pictures. thank you very much.

[@hithere8753]

Ah peaches and gravy! Back in my day we made own molasses and tied a jar around our belt, which was the style at the time.

[@annabolster7071]

My father in law told me about this years ago and I enjoyed this alot tyvm

[@andrewjames1366]

35 mph wave! That’s ironic, given the expression “slow as molasses in January”

[@edsmith2562]

Kinetic energy is a strange and evil mistress, at times.

[@Mrcaffinebean]

I thought the same, never again will someone mention that phrase to me without hearing this story!

[@haroldwilkes6608]

@@Mrcaffinebean Good because the phrase originated from this.

[@kitefan1]

Thanks for this episode. That event has always fascinated me. You have better pictures and a few details I had not seen before. I worked in the South Station area of Boston for several years. As mentioned by other commenters, my older colleagues told me that you could even still smell the molasses on a warm day at Quincy Market before the tourist rehab. I smelled it once in the area on a hot still day when we went to the Market for lunch.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

Great little known industrial accident story. Consider another even greater industrial accident, the "Texas City Disaster" of 1947 for one of your upcoming subjects.

[@l-l]

I've seen this disaster covered on KZbin multiple times, but as always you teach me something new and do an amazing in depth yet concise explanation of events.

[@TheSEBfamily]

On a hot day in the North End of Boston you can smell molasses.

[@Eotarc]

Really?? I'm genuinely curious.

[@yank-tc8bz]

@@Eotarc Yes really I used to work in the area and when it's hot you can smell it.

[@tomjustis7237]

I'm glad to see the higher-tech and varied openings for your presentations, because it means you are obviously getting more financial support, which also means you will be able to continue providing us with information regarding these lesser known but worthwhile snippets of forgotten history that no one else provides. Still, as a long time fan, I kind of miss the old, "I'm the History Guy. I have a degree in history and I love history, and if you love history too..." Ah, well. When I feel nostalgic, I can always go back and happily watch one of your older episodes. Give the History Cat a scratch behind the ear for me and keep up the good work.

[@robertpierce1981]

I cannot imagine drowning in molasses, the Horror

[@rabbi120348]

@Idiot Online Wondering Aloud Are you from Iowa? I've seen that acronym, but with "outside" instead of "online."

[@Equiluxe1]

A sticky end indeed.

[@e.wintertashlin2903]

In the book “Dark Tide” about the disaster, the author recounts the struggle of the fireman who died. He was pinned by rubble but by tipping his head back all the way, could get clear to breath. Eventually his strength started to give out, and his head would dip into the molasses, only to jerk back out again gasping for air. Before rescue could arrive, and with his buddies begging him to hold on (they couldn’t reach him either) his face went into the molasses one last time and he drowned.

[@stevedietrich8936]

@@rabbi120348 and Wandering, not Wondering

[@rabbi120348]

@@stevedietrich8936 Yes, I just noticed that, and Around, not Aloud. But it's the same basic idea. 3 million people, 20 million pigs...

[@missinglincoln]

I knew this story, but yours is easily the best video I have seen about it. So, thank you!

[@tonymontgomery5827]

My 9 year old son reads a series of books titled "I survived". This is one of those stories.

[@tn_bob5740]

He reads for enjoyment? Obviously something you taught him since our schools no longer seem interested in teaching or advocating the accumulation of facts and knowledge. You are to be commended.

[@tonymontgomery5827]

@@tn_bob5740 thank you sir. In our home reading is the main form of entertainment indoors. Social media does not exist in his world yet. Outdoor activities are our primary focus. We live on the Oregon coast so there are many exciting things to do.

[@Brie.s]

@@tn_bob5740 OK boomer

[@tn_bob5740]

@@Brie.s, LOL! Couldn't come up with a real response, huh?

[@Brie.s]

@@tn_bob5740 I didn't think it was really worth the effort in all honesty. I enjoy conciseness when I have the opportunity for it Also though, I think my 'reply' Was a 'response' lmao A word or phrase's usage, common or not, as a slang term or colloquialism doesn't detract from it's meaning or intent, and if it gets my point across, why not use it? :P

[@nunyabusiness8538]

really appreciate the effort put into these videos. finding accurate information and anecdotes from historical events seems to get harder and harder. which is weird because we live in an age where it’s never been easier to access information

[@bruceperry6315]

My father told me about this disaster when I was a kid. It happened a year before he was born in 1920.

[@nickw7619]

As other history lovers have said I too had already heard of this story, but your research into finding the old newspaper clippings was amazing! Another great video from THG!

[@Cydonia2020]

This is one of my favorite historical stories. Granted, it is sad but there is also an interesting irony to it considering how liquor was made illegal a short time afterwards. Reports say that the streets would run brown after rain storms and the harbor reeked of molasses for months afterwards. Some people say even today in the right conditions you can smell a subtle hint of the syrup in the air

[@lolee1234]

There could be worse smells. The lambskin tanning processing plant was not far from our house when I was a child 🙃.

[@Cydonia2020]

@@lolee1234 There is a creosote factory in my town that when the wind blows from the right direction, you get a sickening smell of burnt shellac.

[@maryerb6062]

Really good material! Keep going, History Guy! Better than any classroom history book!

[@davidetew5258]

Any time you leave a "bean counter" in charge of construction, well you get what you pay for.

[@jameswhite153]

or anything other than accounting really, look at the ford pinto, the bloody thing had nothing between the exhaust and the fuel tank, so if you got rear ended, boom. A memo leaked from ford accounting stating that it was more expensive to recall the cars affected or even change than to keep paying compensation. that did not end well for the ford company.

[@stevematson4808]

Bean counter probably diverted a few beans to his pocket

[@PJCmashtun]

You used my topic suggestion! I grew up just outside Boston and heard about the event many times growing up, but never with this much detail. Thanks!

[@gregscott989]

THG: "The disaster represented the end of an era when big business faced no regulation and no consequences..." We're back there again now...and suffering a much worse disaster.

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

Exactly. As if regulations are there for no reason. It's going to take years to undo the damage being inflicted now.

[@techietypex]

About ten years ago, the Daily Kos ran a series called Why We Have Regulations. Alas, it seems to be gone from the site, but it was excellent. Among the cases discussed were two horrific hotel fires in 1946, one in Atlanta at the Winecoff Hotel that killed 119 people and another at the LaSalle Hotel in Chicago that claimed 61 lives. Both fires led to changes in fire codes that continue to this day. The series also discussed lead poisoning at the Esso Refinery in Elizabeth, NJ when leaded gas was first introduced during the 1920s. Workers literally went insane from the lead. They called it crazy gas. Again, law suits let to changes and improved working conditions. Both stories are history that deserves to be remembered. Always enjoy your channel.

[@jeffsweeney8785]

except this time its the media and silicon valley that should be liabel for malfeasons against the American electorate.

[@techietypex]

@@jeffsweeney8785 A biased media is as old as the Country. Remember the Maine and down with Spain actually started a shooting war. William Randolph Hearst had blood on his hand. Unfortunately, there is no substitute for an educated citizenry that can think critically. The truth is out there. It's just not as much fun as a good conspiracy theory

[@ajmittendorf]

Very timely post. I am writing a story and needed research on this particular event, and here it is from my favourite historian, posted only seven days earlier. Cool.

[@GaldirEonai]

"But Jed had cut corners"...of course, it was a round tank! ... Okay, they can't all be winners...

[@paulkolodner2445]

Shame on you. Now go stand in the corner and think about what you did.

[@shawnr771]

@@paulkolodner2445 He is in a round room. That is cruel.

[@jamesrobinson9176]

👍👍👍👍 nice. Almost no mention of war and soldiers! So glad to see stories that don't involve them.

[@thomasdarby6084]

What I have never heard about this disaster is: How did they clean it up? What a mess.

[@silvesby]

Apparently, the molasses can still be smelled on hot days in Boston

[@thequietjuan]

On Boston's historic cobblestone streets, you can still see the molasses stains - easily spotted on The Freedom Trail.

[@kirbyculp3449]

A big pancake breakfast.

[@MrTruckerf]

Mopped it up with cornbread?

[@sarahstrong7174]

@@MrTruckerf I can just imagine the vast cornbreads they had to cook for this & the training of teams of volunteers to manipulate it correctly to pick up the maximum amount of Molasses per cornbread.

[@enekuda05]

I've heard this story so many times on youtube......... But to be honest there is just SOMETHING about the way you present it.....I could watch those other ones maybe ones but I find the way you present the information so delightful that I could watch this multiple times. Keep doing the good work :) your easily in my top 10 favorite KZbin channels!

[@twistysunshine]

I saw this and was like "this is probably funny right?" It is not as funny as I had thought :(

[@Javaman92]

That's exactly what I went through.

[@troodon1096]

Comedy = Tragedy + Time.