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Year 1
The Great Stink
The Great Stink was an event in London during July and August 1858 in which the hot weather made the smell of untreated human waste unbearable. The problem had been mounting for some years, with an inadequate sewer system that emptied directly into the Thames. It took three outbreaks of cholera and the Great Stink before anyone blamed the ongoing problems with the river.
We have learnt about:
- Michal Faraday, a British physicist and chemist who discovered that the pollution of the river Thames was causing cholera.
- Joseph Bazalgette, an engineer who was given the task of creating a new sewage system for London.
Photos of our history work learning about cholera
