^^ Good question. I don't really know.
Cool. I'm going to get that book. Around here, of course, most people have heard of it. They claim that on hot Summer days you can still smell the molasses in the North End; I've never actually experienced that myself, so it may be an Urban Legend. Or maybe other people have a more sensitive sense of smell than I do.
My reaction when my Uncles told me about it as a kid was disbelief, since they were always lying to me. So I looked it up, discovered it was real, and found it hilarious-- until I realized that it really was a disaster that cost people their lives. It still amazes me that something so silly sounding could be so tragic.That molasses explosion would have been funny if people hadn't been hurt or killed.
