Snow came to the conclusion that Soho’s 1854 cholera outbreak could be traced to the water. However, through neighborhood interviews, Dr. Realizing that something must be done, engineer Joseph Bazalgette was hired to build a sewer system.Īt the same time, many people believed that bad air or Miasma caused disease, not the obviously polluted water. Perhaps not surprisingly, in the summer of 1858, Londoners suffered through the Great Stink. The 360 brick lined sewers were in poor repair and ultimately emptied into the Thames as well. It is estimated that London had 200,000 cesspools, many of which were open and prone to overflowing, catching fire or exploding. Although several of the water companies drew water from wells, five drew water from the heavily polluted Thames. The water and sewage systems could be called poor at best. Thousands of horses, cows and dogs lived there too. Outbreaks of cholera, tuberculosis and typhoid occurred regularly and the average life expectancy of a Londoner was 37 years. Although the Industrial Revolution had brought prosperity to some, London’s population exploded with over 6 million people living on 122 square miles by 1851. And yet, it was only inching it’s way into becoming a modern city. An industrial, manufacturing and shipping center. The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs were unveiled. The Kansas-Nebraska Act becomes law in the United States. (An intermittent series introducing well known maps)Ĭharles Dickens, Conan Doyle, Henry David Thoreau, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, are writing.Ĭommodore Perry signs the Convention of Kanagawa with the Tokugawa Shogunate.
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