A
40-foot wave of molasses buckled the elevated railroad tracks, crushed buildings and inundated the neighborhood
. Structural defects in the tank combined with unseasonably warm temperatures contributed to the disaster.
Did they use molasses for bombs?
But the tank had been built quickly in the winter of 1915 to meet rising demand for industrial alcohol, which could be distilled from molasses and sold to weapons companies, who used it to make dynamite and other explosives for use during
World War I
.
Was molasses used in bombs?
Tbe sticky brown syrup was being put to a new and perbaps surprising use: to make bombs. Heated up in a process called distillation, molasses can be turned into a liquid called industrial alcobol. In tbis form, molasses became a key ingredient in tbe explosives used in tbe war against Germany.
How was molasses used in munitions?
USIA used molasses to produce industrial alcohol for munitions. … The
warm molasses reacted with the cold molasses already in the tank accelerating fermentation and increasing the pressure on the tank’s already weak walls
. On Jan.
Did molasses almost destroy Boston?
On
January 15th, 1919
, in what was probably the most bizarre disaster in United States’ history, a storage tank burst on Boston’s waterfront releasing two million gallons of molasses in a 15 ft-high, 160 ft-wide wave that raced through the city’s north end at 35mph destroying everything it touched.
Can you swim in molasses?
A wave of molasses does not behave like a wave of water. Molasses is a non-Newtonian fluid, which means that its viscosity depends on the forces applied to it, as measured by shear rate. … Physics also explains why
swimming in molasses is near impossible
.
Does Boston still smell like molasses?
A 40-foot wave of molasses buckled the elevated railroad tracks, crushed buildings and inundated the neighborhood. … Local legend has it that on particularly warm days,
you can still smell the faint aroma of molasses seeping up from the streets of the old North End
.
Is molasses healthier than honey?
According to research,
blackstrap molasses contains more antioxidants than honey and other natural sweeteners
, including maple syrup and agave nectar ( 10 ). Studies also show that these antioxidants can help protect cells from the oxidative stress associated with cancer and other diseases ( 11 ).
How many died in the molasses flood?
Great Molasses Flood, disaster in Boston that occurred after a storage tank collapsed on January 15, 1919, sending more than two million gallons (eight million litres) of molasses flowing through the city’s North End. The deluge caused extensive damage and killed
21 people
.
How did they clean up the molasses flood?
Millions of gallons of salt water were pumped in to wash away the molasses
— a process that would leave the harbor with a shade of brown for months afterwards, he said.
What can you use in place of molasses?
- Molasses Substitute: Brown Sugar. Michelle Arnold / EyeEmGetty Images. …
- Molasses Substitute: Granulated Sugar & Water. …
- Molasses Substitute: Dark Corn Syrup. …
- Molasses Substitute: Maple Syrup. …
- Molasses Substitute: Honey. …
- Molasses Substitute: Golden Syrup.
Who was to blame for the Great molasses Flood?
Over 1,500 exhibits were introduced and some 1,000 witnesses testified including explosives experts, flood survivors and USIA employees. The closing arguments alone took 11 weeks, but in April 1925, state auditor Hugh W. Ogden finally ruled that
United States Industrial Alcohol
was to blame for the disaster.
Is molasses flammable?
Molasses has a flashpoint of 999 degrees Fahrenheit (537 Celsius). It takes quite a lot of heat and energy to make molasses catch fire
(it is combustible, just not flammable)
.
Why did Boston have so much molasses?
But overfilling wasn’t the reason it burst. The consensus cause — both according to an auditor who later ruled against Purity in a class-action lawsuit and structural engineers who studied the case nearly a century later — was
that the tank itself was insufficiently built.
How do u make molasses?
To make molasses,
sugar cane is harvested and stripped of leaves
. Its juice is extracted, usually by cutting, crushing, or mashing. The juice is boiled to concentrate it, promoting sugar crystallization. The result of this first boiling is called first syrup (‘A’ Molasses), and it has the highest sugar content.
When was the molasses flood in Boston?
Fiery hot molasses floods the streets of Boston on
January 15, 1919
, killing 21 people and injuring scores of others. The molasses burst from a huge tank at the United States Industrial Alcohol Company building in the heart of the city.
