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April 21, 2017

Strange But True!

Q. It's not very often that molasses is a villain in a major story, but it certainly can happen — and did. Explain, please.

A. “On January 15, 1919, a storage tank in Boston's North End ruptured and a wave of molasses more than 7 meters high (23 feet) swept through the streets, flattening buildings and killing 21 people,” reports New Scientist magazine. The question puzzling historians nearly a century later is why a slow-moving fluid caused such devastation.


 
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