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 engineerJoseph 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. (
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... that the
lead actress in
Kim Hyung-jun's music video "oH! aH!" from My Girl has been referred to as "Idol Killer" for working with various idol-singers?
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.
Eumerus is a genus of small
hoverflies. They have a distinctive smooth round abdomen, powerful back legs, and yellow hairs around the
scutellum, as well as a flat hairy face and a reentrant upper crossvein on the wings. The genus contains 281 known species, making it one of the largest genera of
flies. Some species are considered pests of ornamental flowers.
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