October 17th

On this day – 17th of October – 1814 died 8 people of drowning in a beer-flood

The London Beer-Flood happened on the 17th of October when a storage tank (vats) holding 610.000 Litre of beer ruptured. This led to a domino effect, and more vats ruptured and over 1400.000 Litres of beer over-flooded the area. At least 8 people drown or died from injuries sustained in the flood, and the people taking to the streets to drink didn’t make the rescue work any easier. The disaster was later taken to court, but it was ruled to be an act by God. The porter-producing brewery who had the accident continued to operate until 1921.