1. The Boston Molasses Disaster
On Jan. 15, 1919, a large molasses storage tank in the North End neighborhood of Boston burst open. This unleashed a 25-foot-tall wave, consisting of 2.3 million gallons of molasses crashing through the streets at an estimated 35 miles per hour, killing 21 people and injuring another 150. It has been speculated that this happened due to poor container structure, as well as increased pressure on the inside of the tank from rising temperatures that caused fermentation inside of the tank. The Boston Police, Red Cross, US Army, and US Navy all helped with the relief from this bizarre yet tragic event. It took 300 people many weeks to completely clean up the mess that had been made. Talk about a sticky situation (I’m so sorry).
2. The dump that sank a German U-Boat
In April, 1945, a U-Boat under the command of Karl Adolph Schlitt ran into a bit of unusual trouble. After using the U-Boats bathroom, one of the crew members managed to make the sewage system malfunction, which caused sewage and seawater to start flooding into the ship rather than out of it. The mixture eventually leaked into batteries, which caused a release of deadly chlorine gas, forcing the captain to surface the ship. While surfaced and awaiting repair, they were caught off-guard by British patrols, who attacked. Four crewman died as a result of the attack, and after surrendering, the 46 other crew members were captured.
3. The day Moscow ran out of vodka
On May 9, 1945 at 1:10 a.m., a radio broadcast went out, saying the Nazis had officially surrendered to the Soviet Union. Instead of waiting, the Soviets went out in their pajamas and got piss-drunk to the great occasion. 22 hours later, before their leader, Joseph Stalin, could even address the nation about the Nazi surrender, the capitol city, Moscow, had run out of vodka.
4. The mooning that killed thousands
In 66 AD, during Passover, thousands of Jewish pilgrims were on their way to Jerusalem. During this pilgrimage, Roman troops watched over them, so they would have a clear view of everything and make sure nothing was out of line. One of these troops decided to express his distaste for the Jewish people by lifting his gown and revealing his backside to everyone below. This upset the Jewish people greatly and started a riot, in which the Roman military was forced to intervene. Thousands ended up dead.
5. "The Bloop"
In the summer of 1997, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) detected a sound unlike any other they had ever heard. The sound originated from a remote area, west of South America's southern tip, in the South Pacific Sea. This sound was detected several times. It was ruled out that the sound was something man-made, such as a bomb or submarine. It was also ruled out that the sound was of the geological nature, such as an earthquake or a volcano. The only thing the sound resembled was that of a living creature, only if it were from a living creature, it would have been the loudest living creature in existence. To this day, no one actually knows what “The Bloop” was, but its name is hilarious and I really hope it was like a giant sea monster or something cool.
