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Great Molasses Flood — 100 years

Started by hotdogPi, January 15, 2019, 08:19:07 AM

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hotdogPi

100 years ago at 12:30 PM, a tank of molasses exploded in Boston, with the wave of molasses traveling at 35 mph. It killed 21 and injured 150, in addition to demolishing several buildings. Apparently, they knew beforehand that there was a problem, but 1. they definitely weren't expecting this, and 2. it was in an immigrant area (North End), and there was anti-immigrant sentiment at the time.

I have no idea if there are any events in Boston to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the event, but I have a schedule conflict, anyway.

The next time you say that something is "slow as molasses", keep in mind that it's actually pretty fast. Although if you're talking about someone driving on a 65 mph highway at 35, it could be a good use of the expression.
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Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.


txstateends

>ugh!< Glad I wasn't one of the ones having to clean up after all that.
\/ \/ click for a bigger image \/ \/

triplemultiplex

They did a segment about the Molasses Flood on "Drunk History". :-D

I think about shit like this when I hear people complain about 'regulation'.  As if we can trust industries to do the right thing out of the goodness of their hearts.  Like a company has any sense of morality that will never be compromised in the name of a few extra dollars.
"That's just like... your opinion, man."

Road Hog

Clorox Wipes works wonders on molasses stains, as far as cleanup goes. Use them all the time at my store. Too bad they wouldn't come around for another 90 years.

Takumi

I didn't know this was a real thing. I thought it was some Alanland-type joke.
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Don't @ me. Seriously.

Roadgeekteen

Quote from: 1 on January 15, 2019, 08:19:07 AM
100 years ago at 12:30 PM, a tank of molasses exploded in Boston, with the wave of molasses traveling at 35 mph. It killed 21 and injured 150, in addition to demolishing several buildings. Apparently, they knew beforehand that there was a problem, but 1. they definitely weren't expecting this, and 2. it was in an immigrant area (North End), and there was anti-immigrant sentiment at the time.

I have no idea if there are any events in Boston to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the event, but I have a schedule conflict, anyway.

The next time you say that something is "slow as molasses", keep in mind that it's actually pretty fast. Although if you're talking about someone driving on a 65 mph highway at 35, it could be a good use of the expression.
That's one of the so crazy you can't believe it's true things. Has anything like that ever happened?
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kphoger

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on January 16, 2019, 10:09:13 AM

Quote from: 1 on January 15, 2019, 08:19:07 AM
100 years ago at 12:30 PM, a tank of molasses exploded in Boston, with the wave of molasses traveling at 35 mph. It killed 21 and injured 150, in addition to demolishing several buildings. Apparently, they knew beforehand that there was a problem, but 1. they definitely weren't expecting this, and 2. it was in an immigrant area (North End), and there was anti-immigrant sentiment at the time.

I have no idea if there are any events in Boston to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the event, but I have a schedule conflict, anyway.

The next time you say that something is "slow as molasses", keep in mind that it's actually pretty fast. Although if you're talking about someone driving on a 65 mph highway at 35, it could be a good use of the expression.

That's one of the so crazy you can't believe it's true things. Has anything like that ever happened?

What do you mean:  "Has anything like that ever happened?"

That exact thing happened.  100 years ago.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

kalvado

Quote from: kphoger on January 16, 2019, 01:25:32 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on January 16, 2019, 10:09:13 AM

Quote from: 1 on January 15, 2019, 08:19:07 AM
100 years ago at 12:30 PM, a tank of molasses exploded in Boston, with the wave of molasses traveling at 35 mph. It killed 21 and injured 150, in addition to demolishing several buildings. Apparently, they knew beforehand that there was a problem, but 1. they definitely weren't expecting this, and 2. it was in an immigrant area (North End), and there was anti-immigrant sentiment at the time.

I have no idea if there are any events in Boston to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the event, but I have a schedule conflict, anyway.

The next time you say that something is "slow as molasses", keep in mind that it's actually pretty fast. Although if you're talking about someone driving on a 65 mph highway at 35, it could be a good use of the expression.

That's one of the so crazy you can't believe it's true things. Has anything like that ever happened?

What do you mean:  "Has anything like that ever happened?"

That exact thing happened.  100 years ago.
These days a well-organized group of pranksters should be able to create such an event out of the blue....
I see an article from 2013 - which is a good indication that things actually happened: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/molasses-flood-physics-science/
But I understand people being skeptical

kphoger

It made the front page of the Boston Post, but people think it never happened ??
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

kalvado

Quote from: kphoger on January 16, 2019, 04:08:10 PM
It made the front page of the Boston Post, but people think it never happened ??
Chemical weapons in Iraq made it all the way to headlines of each and every news outlet and to POTUS desk...
Trust, but verify.

kphoger

Quote from: kalvado on January 16, 2019, 04:09:40 PM

Quote from: kphoger on January 16, 2019, 04:08:10 PM
It made the front page of the Boston Post, but people think it never happened ??

Chemical weapons in Iraq made it all the way to headlines of each and every news outlet and to POTUS desk...
Trust, but verify.

If the front page of my city's newspaper said there was a huge explosion, 50 people injured, 11 people dead, included a picture of the damage, described ongoing search and rescue operations, listed the names of the victims and the injured. . .

In my opinion, that's not at all the same as reports from a closed-off, foreign, enemy nation.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

kalvado

Quote from: kphoger on January 16, 2019, 04:22:02 PM
Quote from: kalvado on January 16, 2019, 04:09:40 PM

Quote from: kphoger on January 16, 2019, 04:08:10 PM
It made the front page of the Boston Post, but people think it never happened ??

Chemical weapons in Iraq made it all the way to headlines of each and every news outlet and to POTUS desk...
Trust, but verify.

If the front page of my city's newspaper said there was a huge explosion, 50 people injured, 11 people dead, included a picture of the damage, described ongoing search and rescue operations, listed the names of the victims and the injured. . .

In my opinion, that's not at all the same as reports from a closed-off, foreign, enemy nation.

Front page of 2019 newspaper? Not so much of a proof IMHO.
Front page of newspaper from 1919 is pretty much an indisputable proof. Did you see that newspaper? I mean not photoshopped online copy, but the actual paper newspaper? I doubt you can easily access that, not for casual curiosity.
So I am looking at the history of how things are mentioned - not in today's news, but deeper in history. It is realtively easy to create few sources of fake news, but planting them deep in archives requires a bit of an effort.  5 year old publications, IMHO, a pretty good reason to assume things are not a prank.  And yes, there are plenty of such publications. I can see something from pretty reliable sources published as early as 1981. So I am pretty much convinced this is a good story.

Good that you're skeptical about foreign coverage in the news, though. It's a good start.

kphoger

Quote from: kalvado on January 16, 2019, 04:39:45 PM
Front page of 2019 newspaper? Not so much of a proof IMHO.
Front page of newspaper from 1919 is pretty much an indisputable proof. Did you see that newspaper? I mean not photoshopped online copy, but the actual paper newspaper? I doubt you can easily access that, not for casual curiosity.

I'm going by a book that was published about the event– Dark Tide:  The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919, wherein the author quotes the Boston Post from 1919 and includes photos that were retrieved from the Boston Fire Department archives.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

kalvado

Quote from: kphoger on January 16, 2019, 04:49:57 PM
Quote from: kalvado on January 16, 2019, 04:39:45 PM
Front page of 2019 newspaper? Not so much of a proof IMHO.
Front page of newspaper from 1919 is pretty much an indisputable proof. Did you see that newspaper? I mean not photoshopped online copy, but the actual paper newspaper? I doubt you can easily access that, not for casual curiosity.

I'm going by a book that was published about the event– Dark Tide:  The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919, wherein the author quotes the Boston Post from 1919 and includes photos that were retrieved from the Boston Fire Department archives.
Which is a very good source, IMHO. But again, good that you made an effort to find that one. Just wondering - did you learn about the event a while ago, or it is a fresh find inspired by this post? If a fresh one - what made you do the research? 
I did something similar - although arrived at different sources which I also deem to be good. And I was a bit curious of what happened, and a bit in disbelief as event is really out of ordinary one. I am not surprized at people not taking such things at face value, I am surprised that it doesn't warrant a 2 minute search to double check for them.

Brandon

"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

abefroman329

Quote from: Brandon on January 16, 2019, 05:19:39 PM
Obviously, it was a sticky situation.
I bet the cleanup operation was slow as...you know.

kphoger

Quote from: kalvado on January 16, 2019, 04:55:56 PM
Just wondering - did you learn about the event a while ago, or it is a fresh find inspired by this post? If a fresh one - what made you do the research? 

I had never even heard of it before this thread.  But the internet makes fast work of some basic research.  I don't have a copy of that book I mentioned, just found it on Google Books.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

GaryV

Quote from: kphoger on January 16, 2019, 04:08:10 PM
It made the front page of the Boston Post, but people think it never happened ??

Neil Armstrong never walked on the moon, either.   :rolleyes:

wxfree

Quote from: triplemultiplex on January 15, 2019, 12:56:12 PM
They did a segment about the Molasses Flood on "Drunk History". :-D

I think about shit like this when I hear people complain about 'regulation'.  As if we can trust industries to do the right thing out of the goodness of their hearts.  Like a company has any sense of morality that will never be compromised in the name of a few extra dollars.

Did "Drunk History" ever do a segment on the beer flood?  That would be an excellent topic for the show.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Beer_Flood
I'd like to buy a vowel, Alex.  What is E?



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