Boston was struck by a devastating flood of molasses in 1919 when a massive storage tank burst and sent a 25-foot wave of sticky syrup tearing through the streets at 35 miles per hour.

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Boston was struck by a devastating flood of molasses in 1919 when a massive storage tank burst and sent a 25-foot wave of sticky syrup tearing through the streets at 35 miles per hour. This wasn't a cute cartoon mishap; the two million gallons of industrial-grade molasses crushed buildings, snapped elevated train tracks, and tragically drowned twenty-one people and several horses. The Purity Distilling Company had completely neglected basic safety standards, painting the leaky tank brown so no one would notice the cracks instead of actually fixing them. Corporate greed literally drowned a neighborhood in a slow-moving breakfast condiment, and local folklore claims you could still smell the sweet, nauseating scent of negligence on hot summer days for decades afterward!