History Storytime

What’s on the slides

1. Slide 1

   history storytime · boston, 1919

   the day a wave of molasses flooded a city

   this is real, it’s documented, and it’s wild. a story in 5 parts →

2. Slide 2

   part 1 of 5

   by the harbour stood a huge steel tank full of molasses, used to make industrial alcohol

3. Slide 3

   part 2 of 5

   on an unusually warm winter day, people heard a rumble like gunfire. the tank split open

4. Slide 4

   part 3 of 5

   a brown wave, reported at up to 25 feet high, rolled through the streets and knocked buildings off their foundations

5. Slide 5

   part 4 of 5

   as the air cooled, the molasses thickened, making rescue painfully slow. 21 people died and about 150 were hurt

6. Slide 6

   part 5 of 5

   the company blamed a bomb. after years of hearings, a court found the tank unsafe and the company paid hundreds of thousands

7. Slide 7

   the strangest part?

   locals said the neighbourhood smelled sweet on hot days for decades

   which forgotten disaster should i cover next? 👇