When A City Drowned in Syrup

[00:00:00]You think quicksand is a terrible way to go? What about being wiped out by a 25-ft tsunami of syrup?

[00:00:06]In 1919, the city of Boston experienced the weirdest, most terrifying disaster in American history.

[00:00:13]A massive metal tank was holding over 2 million gallons of thick, sticky molasses, but the tank was built incredibly cheaply. It was leaking so badly that the owners literally painted it brown just to hide the cracks.

[00:00:27]Then, on a warm January afternoon, the pressure became too much. The tank violently exploded. A tidal wave of syrup, 25-ft tall, ripped through the streets at 35 mph. It was moving so fast it completely snapped steel train tracks like dry twigs and crushed entire buildings. And because the syrup was so impossibly thick, people couldn't swim out of it. They were trapped like flies on sticky paper.

[00:00:53]21 people died, and historians say the entire city of Boston smelled sweet for decades. So, the next time you pour syrup on your morning pancakes, just be glad you're not the one swimming in it.

[00:01:04]And honestly ask yourself,