The Molasses Flood Part №11

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]roughly 11 million in today's money divided among 119 plaintiffs.

[00:00:06]A widow received about $7,000 for the death of her husband. A family received $2,000 for the death of a child.

[00:00:15]The Boston Molasses Flood was one of the first cases in American history where a corporation was held legally responsible for a structural failure. Before this, industrial disasters were almost always blamed on workers, on accidents, on bad luck. The Ogden report changed that.

[00:00:33]Within 5 years of the verdict, Massachusetts had revised its building codes. New York followed, then Illinois, then most of the United States.

[00:00:42]Engineering plans for major construction now required certification by a licensed engineer. Before Boston, a bookkeeper could approve a tank holding 26 million pounds of liquid.