The Sticky Explosion

Molasses is a dark, sweet, sticky substance that most people only think about using for baking. However, enjoying molasses as a treat is not all this food is known for, especially to anyone who lived in Boston, Massachusetts, during the early 1900s. In fact, these people learned that molasses can be dangerous.

On January 15, 1919, disaster struck at the United States Industrial Alcohol Company. A tank holding 2.5 million gallons of molasses exploded. A wave of hot molasses poured from the tank burning and destroying whatever or whomever was unlucky enough to be in its path.

The spread of the molasses was not contained to the Industrial Alcohol Company building. The substance spread throughout the street, taking down structures, animals, and people. Twenty-one people died as a result of the explosion. Cleanup of the sticky substance took weeks. The source of the explosion was eventually blamed on the tank, which was described as simply not being large enough to hold the amount of molasses that it had contained.