The Event That Impacted The Livelihoods of English people in the 1800s

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]Did you know this particular event actually happen? We are talking about the Great [music] Stink. Now, I found out about the Great Stink through a Wikipedia article, and there are so many weird Wikipedia articles out there that I could just talk about. [music] Now, before I talk about the others, let's just talk about the Great Stink. Now, the Great Stink is an event that happened in the central London during July and August of 1858.

[00:00:27]The weather was extremely hot, which made the smell from the polluted River Thames much worse. The river was filled with human [music] waste, sewage, and industrial pollution, creating the horrible smell across the city. This particular problem had been building up for years because of London's sewer system, because it was old, damaged, and it was unable to keep up with the city's growing population. Most of the waste comes from homes, [music] factories that would dump directly into the River Thames instead of it being properly cleaned [music] or removed. As a result, the river became heavily polluted and dangerous. [music] At the time, many people believed that the bad smell, also known as miasma, could spread diseases.

[00:01:17]Because of this, the polluted river caused [singing] fear among the public.

[00:01:22]Before the Great Stink, London already had so [music] many cholera cases, and many people blamed it onto the river.

[00:01:29]The terrible smell was so strong to the point that you could smell it from the government buildings. Because of this particular problem, it finally forced the national and local authorities to take the problem seriously. So, they employed a guy, an engineer, named as Joseph Bazalgette. He designed [music] the modern sewer system that London has today. Instead of carrying the waste in the central London, it moved eastwards outside of the city area.

[00:02:03]>> [snorts] >> His system greatly improved sanitation in London and helped reduce the spread of diseases. Now you know.