Great Molasses Flood and the sabotage rumor

On January 15, 1919 a large molasses storage tank on Commercial Street in the North End burst, sending a wave of molasses through the neighborhood and killing 21 people and injuring about 150. Immediately after the disaster, rumors circulated that the tank had been deliberately sabotaged; subsequent engineering analyses and the civil court case that followed attributed the collapse to structural failure, poor construction, and insufficient testing. The sabotage story persists as a piece of local folklore, but historical records favor mechanical and construction causes.