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The Great Stink was an event in Central London during July and August 1858 in which the hot weather exacerbated the smell of untreated human waste and industrial effluent that was present on the banks of the River Thames. The problem had been mounting for some years, with an ageing and inadequate sewer system that emptied directly into the Thames.
The commission surveyed London's antiquated sewerage system and set about ridding the capital of an estimated 200,000 cesspits, insisting that all cesspits should be closed and that house drains should connect to sewers and empty into the Thames (ultimately, a major contributing factor to "The Great Stink" of 1858).
The construction of the London sewer system is central to the plot of Anne Perry's 2006 novel Dark Assassin, in which the Great Stink is also mentioned. The title character from Terry Pratchett's Dodger, based on the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist, spends much of his time in London's sewers alongside notable historical figures including ...
The Great Stink of 1858 stimulated the construction of a sewer system for London. In this caricature in The Times , Michael Faraday reports to Father Thames on the state of the river. As recently as the late 19th-century, sewerage systems in some parts of the rapidly industrializing United Kingdom were so inadequate that water-borne diseases ...
Sir Joseph William Bazalgette CB (/ ˈ b æ z əl dʒ ɛ t /; 28 March 1819 – 15 March 1891) was an English civil engineer.As Chief Engineer of London's Metropolitan Board of Works, his major achievement was the creation of a sewerage system for central London, in response to the Great Stink of 1858, which was instrumental in relieving the city of cholera epidemics, while beginning to clean ...
In 1855 and 1858 there were especially bad summers with the latter being known as "The Great Stink". A notable achievement of the Board was the creation of the core London sewerage system, including 75 miles (120 km) of main and 1000 miles (1650 km) of street sewers, which solved the problem.
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2 July – Great Stink: the stench of sewage from the River Thames affects work in the House of Commons. [5] 17 July – salvage of the Lutine bell, which is subsequently hung in Lloyd's of London. 26 July – Lionel de Rothschild takes his seat as the first Jewish Member of Parliament. [8]