At midday on January 15, 1919, Boston's North End was full of workers and residents venturing outdoors to enjoy unseasonably warm weather. A
"At midday on January 15, 1919, Boston's North End was full of workers and residents venturing outdoors to enjoy unseasonably warm weather. At about 1 p.m., they heard a low rumble. At first, many assumed it was a Boston Elevated train approaching. But, within minutes, they realized something was very wrong. A 50-foot tall tank full of industrial grade molasses had ruptured, sending a 2.3 million gallon wave of molasses rushing through the crowded North End. "
And in a shocking turn of events: "Though the tank had only been built a few years earlier in 1915, local residents knew that it leaked. According to author Stephen Puleo, North End children collected pails of the sticky, sweet molasses. When locals complained that they could see the molasses seeping out at the tank's seams, Purity Distilling painted the tank brown, to disguise the oozing molasses."
Twenty-one people were killed, and 150 injured. In an even more-shocking turn of events: "Though locals had observed the structural issues with the molasses tank, the tank's owners initially blamed an anarchist plot to bomb the tank."
Something good came out of this tragedy and corporate buck-passing, however:
"An initial inquiry and a later class-action lawsuit revealed the structural instability of the tank. In 1925, a court-appointed auditor ruled that the negligence by the tank's owners was to blame for the tank's collapse and the loss of life and property. The tragedy of Boston's molasses flood led to great changes in the way the United States regulated industries."
tl;dr: Business will do as little as possible of anything that might jeopardize its profits or market share unless grabbed by the scruff of its neck by government regulations and dragged into compliance with the law and with norms of civilized, responsible behavior.
