In London's Great Stink of 1858, the smell from untreated human waste
and industrial effluent being pumped onto the banks of the River Thames
was exacerbated by the low levels of the river in the hot summer
weather. The cause was the inadequate and archaic sewerage system, which
poured waste into the river. Victorian doctors still believed in the
miasma theory, that smell transmitted contagious diseases, rather than
microorganisms; three outbreaks of cholera prior to the Great Stink were
blamed on the ongoing problems with the river. Local and national
administrators who had been looking at possible solutions accepted a
proposal from the civil engineer Joseph Bazalgette (pictured) to move
the effluent eastwards along a series of interconnecting sewers that
sloped towards outfalls beyond the metropolitan area. Pumping stations
were built to lift the sewage from lower levels into higher pipes, and
two of the more ornate buildings, Abbey Mills in Stratford and Crossness
on the Erith Marshes, are listed for protection by English Heritage.
Bazalgette's plan introduced three embankments to London in which the
sewers ran—the Victoria, Chelsea and Albert Embankments. The work
ensured that sewage was no longer dumped onto the shores of the Thames
and brought an end to the cholera outbreaks. Although Bazalgette planned
for the sewers to support a city of 4.5 million, the system still
operates into the 21st century, servicing a city that has grown to over
8 million.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Stink>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1280:
Reconquista: Troops of the Emirate of Granada defeated those of
the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of León in the Battle of
Moclín.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mocl%C3%ADn_(1280)>
1858:
Edgardo Mortara, a six-year-old Jewish boy, was seized by papal
authorities and taken to be raised as a Roman Catholic, sparking an
international controversy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgardo_Mortara>
1894:
Led by French historian Pierre de Coubertin, an international
congress at the Sorbonne in Paris founded the International Olympic
Committee to reinstate the ancient Olympic Games.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_de_Coubertin>
1972:
Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 was
amended to prohibit gender discrimination in any educational program
receiving federal funds, which allowed for huge growth in women's sports
for student athletes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_IX>
1985:
A bomb attributed to the Sikh separatist group Babbar Khalsa
destroyed Air India Flight 182 above the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 329
on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Flight_182>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
unbeknownst:
(followed by to) Without the knowledge of.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unbeknownst>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We have to act now … and not one of us can do it without the
other. Maybe I am a monster … I don't think I would know if I were
one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no
way to make you trust me. … But we need to go.
--Avengers: Age of Ultron
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Avengers:_Age_of_Ultron>