A closer look
Over one million liters of beer flooded the streets of London in 1814 when a massive wooden fermentation vat burst at the Meux and Company Brewery. The resulting tsunami of dark porter physically destroyed two homes, crumbled a brick wall, and killed eight people who were unfortunately drowned or crushed by the highly alcoholic wave. Rumors immediately spread that hundreds of locals rushed into the street with cups and pots to drink the free beer directly from the gutters, though historians now suspect the press made that part up to sell papers. Regardless, the brewery was eventually taken to court, but the judge ruled the lethal beer flood was an act of God, meaning no one had to pay compensation. It remains one of the most absurd industrial disasters in European history, leaving a grim legacy where getting wiped out by a tidal wave of stout was a legitimate risk of city living
