17 October 1814

Eight people die in the London Beer Flood.

The London Beer Flood was a tragic and unusual industrial accident that occurred on October 17, 1814, in the St. Giles Rookery area of central London. The disaster was triggered when a large vat of beer burst at the Meux & Co. Brewery on Tottenham Court Road, causing a chain reaction that led to the release of over 320,000 gallons (about 1.5 million liters) of beer into the surrounding area.