LONDON DROWNED IN BEER AND 8 PEOPLE DIED
On October 17 1814 a wave of beer 15 feet high flooded London.
At the Horse Shoe Brewery a wooden vat holding 135000 gallons of porter burst. The iron rings snapped and the pressure knocked over another vat and in total 323000 gallons exploded out. That is about 2.5 million pints pouring into the slum of St Giles at terrifying speed.
The flood smashed two homes and collapsed a wall where a wake was being held. People drowned, were crushed, or died from alcohol fumes in cellars. Eight people died, mostly women and children watching the funeral. More than 15000 people came to see the ruins after.
What nobody talks about is the brewery was saved because the government refunded the tax on the lost beer while families got nothing at first. The court called it an act of God and said no one was to blame.
Would you take free beer from a street flood?
On October 17 1814 a wave of beer 15 feet high flooded London.
At the Horse Shoe Brewery a wooden vat holding 135000 gallons of porter burst. The iron rings snapped and the pressure knocked over another vat and in total 323000 gallons exploded out. That is about 2.5 million pints pouring into the slum of St Giles at terrifying speed.
The flood smashed two homes and collapsed a wall where a wake was being held. People drowned, were crushed, or died from alcohol fumes in cellars. Eight people died, mostly women and children watching the funeral. More than 15000 people came to see the ruins after.
What nobody talks about is the brewery was saved because the government refunded the tax on the lost beer while families got nothing at first. The court called it an act of God and said no one was to blame.
Would you take free beer from a street flood?
LONDON DROWNED IN BEER AND 8 PEOPLE DIED
On October 17 1814 a wave of beer 15 feet high flooded London.
At the Horse Shoe Brewery a wooden vat holding 135000 gallons of porter burst. The iron rings snapped and the pressure knocked over another vat and in total 323000 gallons exploded out. That is about 2.5 million pints pouring into the slum of St Giles at terrifying speed.
The flood smashed two homes and collapsed a wall where a wake was being held. People drowned, were crushed, or died from alcohol fumes in cellars. Eight people died, mostly women and children watching the funeral. More than 15000 people came to see the ruins after.
What nobody talks about is the brewery was saved because the government refunded the tax on the lost beer while families got nothing at first. The court called it an act of God and said no one was to blame.
Would you take free beer from a street flood?
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