Londoners Died of Cholera for a Decade. Parliament Moved When the Smell Hit Its Library

In the summer of 1858, the Thames smelled so bad that MPs couldn't use their own committee rooms and library. Parliament soaked its curtains in chloride of lime, the Chancellor of the Exchequer called the river a "Stygian pool", and a rescue bill became law in about 18 days. This is the story of the Great Stink: the miasma theory that said bad air caused disease, the doctor and the scientist who suspected the water, the engineer Joseph Bazalgette and his 82 miles of brick sewers, the cholera outbreak of 1866 that finally settled the argument, and why a fix built on the wrong theory still worked. Where the sources disagree (the date of the bill, the death tolls, what Parliament actually did), we tell you. Sources: Hansard, Commons, 11 June, 15 June, 15 July and 19 July 1858 (api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard); London Museum, "The Great Stink of 1858" and "How Bazalgette built London's first super sewer"; Royal Museums Greenwich, "Dickens and the Great Stink of 1858"; Faraday's letter to The Times, 7 July 1855 (Epsilon); Victorian Web, Punch, 3 July 1858; Wikipedia, "Great Stink", "Joseph Bazalgette", "Crossness Pumping Station", "Victoria Embankment", "1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak", "William Farr"; History.co.uk, "Sir Joseph Bazalgette and London's sewers"; Spitalfields Life, "The East London Waterworks scandal"; Geological Society, "Cholera for Christmas"; Historic UK, "London's Great Stink". #history #victorianlondon #greatstink