Apparently True

The Great Molasses Flood's Unlikely Trigger

On January 15, 1919, a storage tank containing over 2.3 million gallons of molasses burst in Boston's North End, unleashing a tidal wave of molasses that killed 21 people and injured 150. The tank, built in 1915, was located near the waterfront and was owned by the Purity Distilling Company. The disaster became one of the most bizarre and deadly industrial accidents in U.S. history, with the molasses flood creating a 25-foot-high wave that traveled at an estimated 35 miles per hour.