Great Molasses Flood
The people in the North End said it made strange noises. The tank was not very old, but it leaked.  Families would send children to go and take molasses from the leak.  U.S. Industrial Alcohol painted the tank brown so the children could not find the leaks to steal molasses, but they did not fix the leaks.  On January 13, two days before the flood, even more hot molasses was poured into the tank.