1919年波士顿北端（North End）发生的蜜糖储存罐大爆炸，直接造成了21人当场死亡，150余人身受重伤。这场发生在100年前的特殊灾难，现在回想起来，当地人仍然心有余悸。甚至事件结束后，当地政府还在现场，安插了一个牌子，记录了这场惨烈的灾难。
1919年1月15日的下午，风和日丽，温度也十分反常地升高了十几度。在波士顿市区，突然一股巨大的蜜糖袭向人们。据后来专业人士调查，这股巨大的蜜糖，足足有14000多吨，高度有7、8米之高，远看就像是海啸一般。
这么厚重的蜜糖，以惊人的速度将建筑物冲毁。由于惯性，建筑物和蜜糖一起涌向了人群。事发突然，波士顿市区内的人民，大多都没有反应过来，就被掩埋在蜜糖之中。很多人死亡，就是因为在蜜糖中无法呼吸，窒息而死。
这件事引起了当地政府的高度重视，先是调查了灾难发生的原因。最后把目标，锁定在这家储存蜜糖的公司。储存蜜糖的罐子，之所以会突爆炸，导致蜜糖流出。关键原因就是这个罐子的问题。
不知出于何故，蜜糖罐子在加工的时候，出现了一些问题，表面有明显的暴露痕迹。甚至有传言，当地居民还有用桶，去偷偷在罐子外面接蜜糖的现象，而工人竟然视若无睹。
加工者的粗心，与工人的不负责，是这场灾难的根本原因。而促成这桩灾难的导火索，就是那天的温度。原本一直零下10几度的波士顿，在1月15号突然升温。学过初中物理的人都知道，热胀冷缩是会改变蜜糖罐的内部压强。
温度迅速上升，导致了蜜糖罐爆炸，才有了这场惊人的灾难。事情到这里，还没有结束。作为事件的始作俑者，这家储存蜜糖的公司，有不可推卸的责任。
尽管他们百般推脱，并将原因归结为天灾，却始终没逃过法律的制裁，赔偿了高额的罚款。当地政府，为了清理街道、海洋等地的残留蜜糖，足足花费了300万美元。这样的耗费，给了当地政府不小的冲击。
这件事，给当地留下很大的教训。从这之后，对于工厂进行了严格的检查与预防，避免再出现这种灾难。当时花了很长时间，才将大部分蜜糖清理干净，但还是有所残留。
只是直至今日，在波士顿的市区，温度高的时候，在空中依然会弥漫着一股蜜糖的味道。而当地居民回想起这件事，无一不是胆战心惊，可见这个灾难，给他们带来了多大的影响。
Great Molasses Flood
The Great Molasses Flood, also known as the Boston Molasses Disaster or the Great Boston Molasses Flood, and sometimes referred to locally as the Boston Molassacre, occurred on January 15, 1919, in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. A large storage tank burst, filled with 2,300,000 US gal (8,700 m3; 8,706,447 liters) (ca 12,000 tons; 10,886 metric tons; 24,000,000 lbs)[4] of molasses, and a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 mph (56 km/h), killing 21 and injuring 150. The event entered local folklore and residents claimed for decades afterwards that the area still smelled of molasses on hot summer days.
The disaster occurred at the Purity Distilling Company facility at 529 Commercial Street near Keany Square. Molasses can be fermented to produce ethanol, the active ingredient in alcoholic beverages and a key component in munitions.[7]:11 Purity used the harborside Commercial Street tank to offload molasses from ships and store it for later transfer by pipeline to the Purity ethanol plant situated between Willow Street and Evereteze Way in Cambridge. The molasses tank stood 50 ft (15 m) tall and 90 ft (27 m) in diameter and contained as much as 2,300,000 US gal (8,700,000 L).
Modern downtown Boston with molasses flood area circled
On January 15, 1919, the temperature had risen above 40 °F (4 °C), climbing rapidly from the frigid temperatures of the preceding days,[7]:91, 95 and the previous day a ship had delivered a fresh load of molasses, which was warmed to reduce its viscosity for transfer.[8] Possibly due to the thermal expansion of the older cold molasses inside, the tank burst open and collapsed at approximately 12:30 pm. Witnesses reported that they felt the ground shake and heard a roar as it collapsed, a long rumble similar to the passing of an elevated train; others reported a tremendous crashing, a deep growling, “a thunderclap-like bang!”, and a machine gun-like sound as the rivets shot out of the tank.[7]:92–95
Molasses’ density is about 1.4 tonnes/m3, 40%[4] more dense than water, so it had a great deal of potential energy.[9] The collapse translated this energy into a wave of molasses 25 ft (8 m) high at its peak,[10] moving at 35 mph (56 km/h).[6][5] The wave was of sufficient force to drive steel panels of the burst tank against the girders of the adjacent Boston Elevated Railway’s Atlantic Avenue structure[11] and tip a streetcar momentarily off the El’s tracks. Stephen Puleo describes how nearby buildings were swept off their foundations and crushed. Several blocks were flooded to a depth of 2 to 3 ft (60 to 90 cm). Puleo quotes a Boston Post report:
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.[7]:98
The Boston Globe reported that people “were picked up by a rush of air and hurled many feet”. Others had debris hurled at them from the rush of sweet-smelling air. A truck was picked up and hurled into Boston Harbor. After the initial wave, the molasses became viscous, exacerbated by the cold temperatures, trapping those caught in the wave and making it even more difficult to rescue them.[9] About 150 people were injured, and 21 people and several horses were killed. Some were crushed and drowned by the molasses or by the debris that it carried within.[12] The wounded included people, horses, and dogs; coughing fits became one of the most common ailments after the initial blast. Edwards Park wrote of one child’s experience in a 1983 article for Smithsonian:
Anthony di Stasio, walking homeward with his sisters from the Michelangelo School, was picked up by the wave and carried, tumbling on its crest, almost as though he were surfing. Then he grounded and the molasses rolled him like a pebble as the wave diminished. He heard his mother call his name and couldn’t answer, his throat was so clogged with the smothering goo. He passed out, then opened his eyes to find three of his four sisters staring at him.