The London Beer Flood
Fun Fact: An average Olympic-sized swimming pool contains about 2.5 million liters of water. So, what would happen if half that much liquid were dumped in an early-industrial urban area without warning?
Today is October 17, 2017, and on this date, 203 Years Back, in 1814, nearly 1.5 million liters of beer flooded the streets of London.
The flood started at the Horse Shoe Brewery on Tottenham Court Road, which was, at the time, a very impoverished area densely packed with poor families in generally terrible living conditions. One of the beer vats at the brewery burst, breaking the other vats in a domino effect.
The resulting surge of beer was powerful enough to destroy two houses and caved in one of the walls of the Tavistock Arms pub.
Beyond the structural damage, at least 8 lives were claimed, either by drowning in flooded basements, or from injuries caused by the destruction of the buildings.
When locals sued the brewery, the court ruled the accident as an Act of God, beyond the control of the brewery, thus freeing them from any liability.
Despite the significant financial issues that followed the accident, the brewery managed to stay afloat, and continued production on the site until 1921 when it was closed, and operations were moved to a larger facility in Wandsworth.
Thanks for reading and be sure to check back tomorrow for a little known early space flight by an unlikely astronaut.
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