The Boston Molasses Flood | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror

1919, the best year ever! (Don’t google “Red Summer”.)

Certainly better than iluminaughtii’s video on the same subject. Yours is less righteous, less long, and less sensational. And overall, is better.

A terrible disaster which led to the tragic deaths of 17 snails, 4 tortoises and a sloth😢

"Molasses, waist deep, covered the street and swirled and bubbled about the wreckage. Here and there struggled a form—whether it was animal or human being was impossible to tell. Only an upheaval, a thrashing about in the sticky mass, showed where any life was. Horses died like so many flies on sticky fly-paper. The more they struggled, the deeper in the mess they were ensnared. Human beings—men and women—suffered likewise." - Boston Post article, January 16, 1919

Reads like something out of a Stephen King novel, and it was written over 100 years ago.

I have to admit, the guys who kept tracking molasses back around the city is kind of hilarious.

"... 21 innocent lives."
Okay, what was the death toll for those who were miserable rotten bastards everyone hated?

Welcome to Molassechusettes!

they refused to fix leaks and painted the shit brown instead LMAO capitalism has always been a plague. we need unions and safer workplaces.

Wow I’ve never been afraid of molasses before

You left out that recreational tour guides in the area sometimes refer ro this incident as the the "Boston Molassacre."

Jesus Christ, that's a shit ton of molasses.

So, the phrase, "slower than molasses in January" is bullshit, then.

wow, I have to listen to this at 1.5 speed to have your voice sound normal speed. I like the way you put the info together but I can't link to this video in my history project due to that alone. sorry

So much for molasses being slow in January.

I've never been there but supposedly on really really hot days in the summer you can actually still smell the molasses!

Interesting times in Boston in 1919 - a molasses flood and a police strike :-)

I read about this when I was a kid, I thought is was cool cuz it tastes like honey to me but it’s not good….

Death by Molasses........that had to suck!

Don't forget about the animals

Imagine if...

Can only imagine the insurance assessors processing claims for this disaster..... Molasses flood..... Sure

this is a horrible way to die

I cant believe this was never on 1000 ways to die...

This right here is nightmare material. Just tvw thought of being trapped and drowning in molasses is terrifying!

I thought Ayo was joking

QUOOTRIAN SOUTH GATE MOON AND WAS OCCOQUAN BY 9B RENSHALL AND ENEMIES OF HECATE MADUSA GOD HADE SERPAINION GOD GENIE AND IF AND IS SEND OFF ENDLESS SLAUGHTERING NUCLEAR SILO IS TURNED RADIOUS AND SEND TO BACKUP ERASED

I saw a lecture on this by an engineering professor. He gave some details about the history of the disaster. He said the tank had been constructed quickly. Engineers had not been consulted to design the tank. Originally the molasses was used to produce ethanol which was in demand due to World War 1. But when the war ended there was a sharp decrease in the demand for ethanol and so the company looked for another product to manufacture. They decided on alcohol because Prohibition would be taking effect in about a year so they reasoned there would be a high demand for alcohol until then. The tank was filled with molasses delivered by ship in Jan. 1919. Three days later the tank burst, causing the disaster.

On hot days u can smell it to this day

On a hot day in Boston, people say it’s so hot you can smell molasses. It’s become local slang.

To those who gripe about government regulations: Stories like this are why they exist. Rich people can't be trusted to keep regular people safe. They will do anything to maximize their profits.

I read a book concerning this a few yrs ago. I was shocked, there were so many warning signs of the leaks.

Drowning in molasses. Unbelievable, R.I.P. to the victims. Cutting corners again on construction, & painting the tank brown, so you can’t see the leaks. Scumbag management‼️

I read the book - excellent 👍

On this very day, it has been 105 years.

Next time someone says you’re “slow as molasses in January”, give them a look of pure horror.

A video about a TANK OF WATER that broke in 2022 redirects to a video of an incident from 1919….make it make sense. The original video that I came from that happens to be from this exact same channel mentions an incident from 2022 and suddenly I’m here on a video about an incident from 1919. Like IM SORRY WHAT?!

Probably the best smelling recovery project in human history?😳

🤔🙄🤠🧐🤓😯😳🥺 Your chosen FM photo with Trump at the beginning is very enlightening. 😆😂🤣😊😇

Thank you for sharing!

my lecturer talked about this event today and I felt like I could hear the music the second I saw an image of it. I knew you just had to have a video about this already and i was right.

As slow as molasses in January is starting to make less sense.

It was a sticky situation.

My grandpa worked there. He told us the story every year at least once. He jumped onto the elevated mta train tracks which went to north station which was the Boston garden arena. He climbed onto the pillar that held the tracks for about 15 minutes and couldnt get out if the wrea ti go home for six hours before a horse officer got him and took him to safety

In 1987 i remember going to the circus and smelling it

Why does this vid start w a shot of honey dripping? Couldn’t find any molasses?

It's black treacle if you live in GB 🇬🇧. Two million gallons of 😮

HORRIBLE DRONING MUSIC. We don't deserve this punishment.

I actually thought the "I Survived" children's book about this was just a joke when I first saw it. Who knew!?

A flood of sticky sweet molasses might not seem too terrible, but two million gallons of anything can be deadly. Stay safe out there!