The Great Boston Molasses Flood

I'm truly amazed about all the history I'm learning from my chemistry filled summer.  Its mostly been about bored men who liked to make things go boom, but last week was very interesting.

We did a lab where we fermented molasses to get alcohol.  A bunch of college kids making alcohol... I could tell this lab would be interesting.  If my teacher's story about the student who tried to drink their alcohol from a flask wasn't intriguing enough, well this Great Boston Molasses Flood story did the trick.

On January 15, 1919 a United States Industrial Alcohol Company (USIAC) storage tank of molasses exploded in North End of Boston, Massachusetts.  This 50 ft tall x 90 ft diameter tank of approximately 2.3 million gallons of molasses ruptured, creating a wall of molasses that moved at 35 mph.  Yes, 2.3 million gallons of molasses will come after you at 35 mph (56 km/h).

This mass amount of molasses destroyed two city blocks, killed 21 people, and injured 150.  Lungs filled with the viscous liquid, the heavy goo pulls the innocent under to suffocate by molasses...  It's almost too disturbing to believe.



"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." - Stephen Puleo

I'm sure you can imagine the clean up. Howie Mandel's worst nightmare, yet Rush Limbaugh's dream come true...

The cause of the problem seems unclear. From a chemist's perspective, wild yeast got into the tank and built up the pressure. US Industrial Alcohol Company was using some of the molasses to get alcohol for munition. So during that time the blame was placed on anarchist sabotage. USIAC paid $600,000 (keep in mind inflation).

The USIAC land is now a baseball field.

"On January 15, 1919, a molasses tank at 529 Commercial Street exploded under pressure, killing 21 people. A 40-foot wave of molasses buckled the elevated railroad tracks, crushed buildings and inundated the neighborhood. Structural defects in the tank combined with unseasonably warm temperatures contributed to the disaster." - plaque in Puopolo Park

Wikipedia: HERE

As for the story about the kid who tried to drink his alcohol experiment from his flask.. well apparently it didn't taste like rum...

Ok, three tests and a formal lab report next week so I won't be blogging for awhile.

BTW. This is so sad! Paris Jackson speaks about her dad. I'll admit, a tear may have escaped... I mean Organic Chemistry overload, MJ's death, and the constant fear of drowning in molasses... living on planet Earth is hard!



Also, my buddy AJ is gonna live off $10 of food this whole week. Check out his journey here.