One of the most intriguing regional disasters of the past century – the Great Molasses Flood that killed 21 people in Boston’s North End in 1919 after a 2 million-gallon storage tank burst – has gotten the attention of academics who were curious about why it was so bad. The NY Times has a big story about it (here it is), but in summary, the weather was just wrong: warm enough to allow the molasses to flow very fast, but cold enough that it congealed quickly and trapped people.
Return to the Concord MonitorAbout Granite Geek
Dave Brooks has written a weekly science/tech newspaper column since 1991 – yes, that long – and has written this blog since 2006, keeping an eye on geekish topics in and around the Granite State. He discusses the geek world regularly on WGIR-AM radio, and moderated the monthly Science Cafe NH sessions when they were still a thing. He joined the Concord Monitor in 2015.
Brooks earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics but got lost on the way to the Ivory Tower and ended up in a newsroom. He has reported for newspapers from Tennessee to New England. Rummage through his bag of awards you’ll find oddities like three Best Blog prizes from the New Hampshire Press Association, Writer of the Year award from the N.H. Farm and Forest Bureau (of all places) and his 2024 induction into the New England Newspaper Hall of Fame.