Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster
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A large storage tank burst, filled with 2.3 million gallons (8706 tons) of molasses, and a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 mph (56 km/h), killing 21 and injuring 150.
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@El_Heffe said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
A large storage tank burst, filled with 2.3 million gallons (8706 tons) of molasses, and a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 mph (56 km/h), killing 21 and injuring 150.
...all that rum, that could have been...😪
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To give you an idea of how large 2.3 million gallons is, a hot air balloon with that volume could lift a 2014 BMW 5-Series.
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@brie I still can't really visualize it. Can you rephrase it in terms of @Polygeekery whisky consumption?
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5085030.593 Bulgarian funbags or 3.4786 Olympic-sized swimming pools
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@Applied-Mediocrity said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
5085030.593 Bulgarian funbags or 3.4786 Olympic-sized swimming pools
And slightly heavier than a million adult badgers too!
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@hungrier said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
Can you rephrase it in terms of @Polygeekery whisky consumption?
Sure.
Just imagine all the whisky he consumes in a normal year coming out of a container all at the same time, causing a 25 ft (8 m) high wave coming at you at 35 mph (56 km/h)
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@hungrier said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@brie I still can't really visualize it. Can you rephrase it in terms of @Polygeekery whisky consumption?
One very very large swimming pool.
And something fun I found...
100 Whisky Facts to Make You a Whisky Genius
Need some whisky trivia to impress? Here are 100, wonderful and wacky facts about whisky to stun even the most seasoned of drinkers.
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@El_Heffe said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 mph (56 km/h),
So now I know much "slow as molasses" is.
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@brie said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
To give you an idea of how large 2.3 million gallons is, a hot air balloon with that volume could lift a 2014 BMW 5-Series.
That gives me even less idea. Can we stick to Olympic-size swimming pools?
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@Gąska said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@brie said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
To give you an idea of how large 2.3 million gallons is, a hot air balloon with that volume could lift a 2014 BMW 5-Series.
That gives me even less idea. Can we stick to Olympic-size swimming pools?
What's that in Library of Congresses?
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@TimeBandit said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@hungrier said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
Can you rephrase it in terms of @Polygeekery whisky consumption?
Sure.
Just imagine all the whisky he consumes in a normal year coming out of a container all at the same time, causing a 25 ft (8 m) high wave coming at you at 35 mph (56 km/h)
Seems legit.
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@boomzilla said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@Gąska said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@brie said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
To give you an idea of how large 2.3 million gallons is, a hot air balloon with that volume could lift a 2014 BMW 5-Series.
That gives me even less idea. Can we stick to Olympic-size swimming pools?
What's that in Library of Congresses?
Just how many congresses are in a single library?
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@Zecc said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@El_Heffe said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 mph (56 km/h),
So now I know much "slow as molasses" is.
Yeah, it kind of ruins the joke "as slow as molasses in January"...
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@dcon why? 56km/h is slow.
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@Gąska said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@dcon why? 56km/h is slow.
If you're in a car! If I'm trying to run, I'M GOING TO DIE!!!
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@Gąska said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@boomzilla said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@Gąska said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@brie said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
To give you an idea of how large 2.3 million gallons is, a hot air balloon with that volume could lift a 2014 BMW 5-Series.
That gives me even less idea. Can we stick to Olympic-size swimming pools?
What's that in Library of Congresses?
Just how many congresses are in a single library?
Dang. I wanted to make a joke about a group of animals, but can't find one named a congress. No, baboons are a troop.
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@Gąska said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@brie said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
To give you an idea of how large 2.3 million gallons is, a hot air balloon with that volume could lift a 2014 BMW 5-Series.
That gives me even less idea. Can we stick to Olympic-size swimming pools?
If they're full of molasses they would be very sticky indeed.
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@Gąska said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@brie said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
To give you an idea of how large 2.3 million gallons is, a hot air balloon with that volume could lift a 2014 BMW 5-Series.
That gives me even less idea. Can we stick to Olympic-size swimming pools?
2.3 million gallons - Wolfram|Alpha
Wolfram|Alpha brings expert-level knowledge and capabilities to the broadest possible range of people—spanning all professions and education levels.
≈ ( 0.0084 ≈ 1/119 ) × volume of the Empire State Building (≈ 1.04×10^6 m^3 )
≈ ( 0.15 ≈ 1/7 ) × volume of steel used in the construction of the Three Gorges Dam (≈ 58900 m^3 )
≈ 3.5 × minimum volume of an Olympic-sized swimming pool ( 2500 m^3 )
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@brie said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
a hot air balloon with that volume could lift a 2014 BMW 5-Series.
dunno if the 2014 is the year model or the number of cars
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@sockpuppet7 said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@brie said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
a hot air balloon with that volume could lift a 2014 BMW 5-Series.
dunno if the 2014 is the year model or the number of cars
It's a mystery.
could lift a 2014 BMW 5-Series
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@loopback0 I know better than trusting people to type correctly. When we have dam disaster down here, it's covering an entire city proportions, so 2014 cars sounded more cromulent. (Then I saw another post that said it's only 3 pools)
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@dcon said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@hungrier said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@brie I still can't really visualize it. Can you rephrase it in terms of @Polygeekery whisky consumption?
One very very large swimming pool.
And something fun I found...
100 Whisky Facts to Make You a Whisky Genius
Need some whisky trivia to impress? Here are 100, wonderful and wacky facts about whisky to stun even the most seasoned of drinkers.
A 30-year-old cask of Macallan set a new world record in 2017 for the most
expensive whisky cask ever sold at auction. It fetched a whopping £375,000.We have a couple bottles of 15 - 17 year old Macallan.
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@sockpuppet7 said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@brie said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
a hot air balloon with that volume could lift a 2014 BMW 5-Series.
dunno if the 2014 is the year model or the number of cars
The English indefinite article "a" (or "an") is normally used when referring to one item.
@sockpuppet7 said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
When we have dam disaster down here, it's covering an entire city proportions, so 2014 cars sounded more cromulent. (Then I saw another post that said it's only 3 pools)
2.3 million gallons isn't really all that much.
For another mental picture of how large it is, imagine a sphere 85 feet in diameter, or a 67 1/2 foot cube.
If you're talking about a large ground reservoir it would probably be an order of magnitude larger than that.
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@Applied-Mediocrity said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
Olympic-sized swimming pools
That's such a bad comparison. Most people haven't seen an Olympic swimming pool. And they're much bigger than other pools so it makes a big difference.
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@brie It's also roughly equivalent to 75 trucks like this one:
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@anonymous234 said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@brie It's also roughly equivalent to 75 trucks like this one:
Trucks like that, in the U.S. at least, carry a maximum of 9,000 gallons (due to 80,0000 pound weight limit on highways).
So it would be more like 255 of those trucks.
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@El_Heffe said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 mph (56 km/h)
Damn, that's 1km/h faster than the top speed of a Bv206. Will be a tight race if I ever have to escape from a molasses flood!
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@brie said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
2.3 million gallons isn't really all that much.
For another mental picture of how large it is, imagine a sphere 85 feet in diameter, or a 67 1/2 foot cube.These words mean nothing.
8.7 million litres isn't really all that much.
Imagine a sphere 25.5 metres in diameter, or a 20.6-metre cube.
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@El_Heffe let us never forget. mmmm.
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Let us all have a moment of silence...
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@chozang said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
Let us all have a moment of silence...
A long enough moment is time enough to distill some rum.
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@anonymous234 said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@Applied-Mediocrity said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
Olympic-sized swimming pools
That's such a bad comparison. Most people haven't seen an Olympic swimming pool. And they're much bigger than other pools so it makes a big difference.
Well, I knew that the local pool when I was kid, which had two portions, would have been Olympic-size if the two portions were combined. I guess that was unusual.
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@kazitor said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@brie said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
2.3 million gallons isn't really all that much.
For another mental picture of how large it is, imagine a sphere 85 feet in diameter, or a 67 1/2 foot cube.These words mean nothing.
8.7 million litres isn't really all that much.
Imagine a sphere 25.5 metres in diameter, or a 20.6-metre cube.And yet, you were magically able to figure out exactly how much they do mean.
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spellcraft check says:
Wolfram|Alpha brings expert-level knowledge and capabilities to the broadest possible range of people—spanning all professions and education levels.
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@brie Yeah, after converting the important unit externally.
Say what you will about your beloved incoherent system; when I see "one million litres" I don't need a calculator to determine "cube ten metres each side"
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@kazitor And why wouldn't you use the US customary system?
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@Gribnit said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@chozang said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
Let us all have a moment of silence...
A long enough moment is time enough to distill some rum.
And to age it afterwards!
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@kazitor said in Today is the 100th anniversary of The Boston Molasses Disaster:
@brie Yeah, after converting the important unit externally.
Say what you will about your beloved incoherent system; when I see "one million litres" I don't need a calculator to determine "cube ten metres each side"
I bet you needed a calculator to determine the cube root of 8.7 million, though.
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@brie two hundred and a bit.
EDIT: Checks the calculator: 205.7. Close enough.
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Today is the 20th anniversary of that time in the 90s when your aunt first got an email address, and forwarded around the email that had a title like 'Weird History Facts', which contained the Boston Molasses story, and since then at least one person has brought up this "weird history fact" at every fucking gathering, party and event!
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Henceforth to be named Boston Molasses Disorder
Great Molasses Flood - Wikipedia
