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WonderHistory fact

In 1814 a huge vat of porter, a dark beer, burst at the Horse Shoe Brewery in London. More than half a million litres of beer swept into the poor streets of St Giles, and eight people died.

London, 17 October 1814

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The story behind the card

The vat that failed stood 6.7 metres tall and could hold nearly three million litres. An iron hoop had slipped off it an hour earlier. When it burst, the rush knocked the tap off a second vat and smashed several barrels, and the wave brought down the brewery's back wall and flooded nearby houses and cellars where poor families lived. Among the dead were mourners at a child's wake and 14-year-old Eleanor Cooper, a servant at the Tavistock Arms pub. The inquest ruled the deaths accidental, in effect an act of God, so the brewery paid no compensation, and a refund of the duty it had paid on the lost beer saved it from ruin. The Dominion Theatre now stands on the site.

Türkçe oku
1814'te Londra'daki Horse Shoe bira fabrikasında, porter denen koyu bir birayla dolu dev bir fıçı patladı. Yarım milyon litreyi aşkın bira St Giles'ın yoksul sokaklarına taştı ve sekiz kişi öldü.
Londra, 17 Ekim 1814

Patlayan fıçı 6,7 metre yüksekliğindeydi ve üç milyon litreye yakın bira alabiliyordu. Demir çemberlerinden biri bir saat önce yerinden kaymıştı. Fıçı patlayınca akan bira bir başka fıçının musluğunu kopardı, birkaç büyük varili parçaladı. Dalga fabrikanın arka duvarını yıktı; yakındaki evleri ve yoksul ailelerin yaşadığı bodrumları bira bastı. Ölenler arasında bir çocuğun cenazesi için toplanmış yas tutanlar ve Tavistock Arms meyhanesinde hizmetçi olarak çalışan 14 yaşındaki Eleanor Cooper da vardı. Soruşturmada ölümler bir kaza, bir bakıma “Tanrı'nın işi” sayıldı; fabrika tazminat ödemedi. Kaybolan bira için önceden ödediği vergi de geri verilince iflastan kurtuldu. Bugün o arsada Dominion Tiyatrosu duruyor.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: London Beer Flood
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