The Great Stink

Now the Great Stink is an event that happened after Voltaire's time, and it also happened in London, but with a name like the "Great Stink" how could I not write about it! The Great Stink happened in August of 1858 when the smell of human waste in the river Thames was exacerbated by the summer heat. The waste accumulated in the river because the inadequate sewer system disposed of all of the waste in the river Thames. The Great Stink was the moment of realization that all of the outbreaks, prior to the stink, were beacue of Londons horrible sewer system. This wasn't the only failure of the sewer system, numerous explosions happened throughout the city because methane leaked from some cesspits. In order to ease the stench, the government poured chalk lime, chloride of lime and carbolic acid into the waterway to ease the stench. The Great Stink acts as the moment in which London realized that the sewer system was the source of many issues within the City. 



Here was have a depiction of death himself traversing the river