Molasses Waves, Parachuting Cats, and the Maple Syrup Crime Wave

Setup: In January 1919, a storage tank in Boston gave way and released roughly 2.3 million gallons of molasses into the streets.

Escalation: The molasses formed a wave reported to be as high as 15 feet and moved at about 35 miles per hour, crushing buildings, vehicles, and people. Twenty-one people died, more than 150 were injured, and the cleanup took weeks. The tank’s owners initially suggested sabotage, but a later lawsuit found that the tank had been poorly built and inadequately tested.

Punchline: The disaster helped establish that molasses could, in fact, move faster than a person fleeing a tank of molasses.

Setup: In the late 1950s, public-health officials in Borneo sprayed large quantities of DDT to control mosquitoes carrying malaria.

Escalation: The chemical did reduce the mosquitoes, but it also disrupted the local food chain. Insects died, lizards ate the insects, cats ate the lizards, and the cats began dying. Rats, meanwhile, remained available for business. To restore the cat population, the Royal Air Force delivered about 14,000 cats by parachute as part of an operation known as Operation Cat Drop.

Punchline: The emergency response to a pesticide problem was a rain of cats.

Setup: Canada maintains a strategic reserve of maple syrup, because apparently syrup can be important enough to stockpile like oil.

Escalation: Between 2011 and 2012, thieves entered the reserve, siphoned syrup from hundreds of barrels, and replaced some of it with water. The stolen supply amounted to roughly 3,000 tonnes and was valued at about 18.7 million Canadian dollars. Investigators eventually recovered much of the syrup and arrested several people.

Punchline: It was the largest food heist in history, and the missing product was maple syrup.

This Week in Weird History: A tank of molasses, a squadron of cats, and three thousand tonnes of syrup all proved that infrastructure can be defeated by breakfast.