On this day in 1919, Boston had quite the sticky situation on their hands – literally. At 12:30 pm, a giant storage tank filled with molasses burst, causing a slow-moving flood. The old saying “as slow as molasses” can’t quite apply here, as the molasses moved around 35 mph, faster than Boston traffic on a good day. As funny as this seems, it was actually quite deadly, killing 21 people and causing 150 casualties. Allegedly there was a leak in the tank, but the officials ignored it and ordered it to be painted brown to hide the drips. The cold weather contracted the tank, but then the workers warmed it up to transport it. This was their downfall, as the sudden change in temperature caused the leak to be breached. The flood swept through Boston, and the Bostonians stuck together through this challenging time, mostly because they had no choice. Although this event was not very influential to this present day, it has some important lessons. First, bureaucratic inefficiency causes explosions, and second, even seemingly harmless things can kill you under the right circumstances. 

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