Taking a break from his duties as the Answer Man of Rock, Gavin Edwards graces us with his quizmastering presence this week. His challenge follows. Remember, no Googling or running to your copy of Cecil Adams. And please limit yourself to one guess per post (though you may post as often as you like). Mr. G. will be the final arbiter of accuracy.
The first correct answer posted to comments wins an installment of the fundamentalist apocalypse fantasia-series Left Behind, with marginal notes from the Wombat File editorial staff.
And, now, on to the Quiz!
Since urban disaster and Wombat File are natural partners (much like Bob Hope and the Whiskey Rebellion), here's this week's question:
Sometime in the first quarter of the twentieth century there was a terrible disaster in Boston. One newspaper said the aftermath was "the biggest mess since the Augean Stables." The Boston Post described it thus: "There was no escape from the wave. Human and animal alike could not flee. Snared in its flood was to be stifled."
What was this catastrophe which took 21 lives?