The
Great Molasses Flood, also known as the
Boston Molasses Disaster or the
Great Boston Molasses Flood, occurred on January 15, 1919, in the
North End neighborhood of
Boston,
Massachusetts, in the United States. A large
molasses storage tank burst, and a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 mph (56 km/h), killing 21 and injuring 150. The event has entered local folklore, and for decades afterward residents claimed that on hot summer days the area still smelled of molasses.