Great Stink
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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
"The Silent Highwayman" (1858). Death rows on the Thames, claiming the lives of victims who have not paid to have the river cleaned up.
"Monster Soup commonly called Thames Water" (1828), by the artist William Heath
"A Drop of Thames Water", as seen by Punch (1850)
"Dirty Father Thames" (1848) Filthy river, filthy river, Foul from London to the Nore, What art thou but one vast gutter, One tremendous common shore?
Michael Faraday
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Michael Faraday was an English chemist and physicist who contributed vastly to the study of electrochemistry and electromagnetism. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagneti
Great Stink
…put further strain on the already failing system. Much of this outflow either overflowed, or discharged directly, into the Thames. The scientist Michael Faraday described the situation in a letter to The Times in July 1855: shocked at the state of the Thames, he dropped pieces of white paper into the river to…
Faraday, c. 1850s
Three Fellows of the Royal Society offering the presidency to Faraday (right) in 1857
Faraday's grave at Highgate Cemetery, north London
Equipment used by Faraday to make glass on display at the Royal Institution in London