1 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, and 2 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:11,320 Speaker 1: there's Charles W. Chuck Brian over there, and today we 3 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: have guest producer Josh sitting in. Not me, another Josh, 4 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:19,280 Speaker 1: Another Josh. Josh. Yeah, you know what his nickname is, uh, 5 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:25,080 Speaker 1: little Josh, the great Stink. That is a terrible nickname, Chuck. 6 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:30,080 Speaker 1: We're just kidding, of course. Sorry, Josh, I'm I'm sorry 7 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:33,080 Speaker 1: for Chuck. Everyone knows I'm the great Stink. I don't 8 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: know about that either. I've never once smelled you in 9 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: the like more than decade that we've worked together. I've 10 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 1: never known you to smell fouley. Wow. Alright, that means 11 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: I'm doing my I'm keeping my distance. We've been close, buddy, 12 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 1: and you still don't stink. Certainly not a great stink. 13 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 1: But that's neither here nor there. We're not talking about 14 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: a great stink yet, are we. No. I don't even 15 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: know what you're talking about, right, Actually, you don't even 16 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:05,399 Speaker 1: know what it is that you brought up. We we 17 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: are talking to start, Chuck about a little city called 18 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: London Town across the pond in Great Britain, the United Kingdom, England. 19 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: That whole area over there, and um, London's been around 20 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:23,000 Speaker 1: a very long time. It's been around since at least 21 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: the Romans kind of came and set up shop. Right. Yeah, Oh, 22 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: by the way, since you brought that up. I hate 23 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: to get sidetracked already, but my good friend Rob from 24 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: college Rob Elsie, my roommate and one of the smartest 25 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: guys I know, texted me the other day and said, 26 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: by the way, Alexander the Great was neither Greek nor Roman. 27 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 1: He was Macedonian. I saw somebody else emailed that in 28 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: I was like, Greek still closer. Yeah, So anyway, shout 29 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: out to Rob. Way to go Rob, real time corrections. Yes, 30 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: that's the way to go, Rob. All right. So London 31 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: has been around for a couple of years, is what 32 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: you were saying it is, And it's kind of slowly 33 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: grew and more and more people were like, Hey, I 34 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: like the I like this town. There's a lot going 35 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: on here. The fish and chips are great. Um, eventually 36 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,680 Speaker 1: it will produce uh, some pretty pretty neat people. I'm 37 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: gonna settle down here. I couldn't think of a single 38 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: London as an example, but you know, people, Mary Pop 39 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: is going to show up eventually, thanks Chuck so um, 40 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: people started settling and accumulating, and uh, it became like 41 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 1: a pretty substantial city by the like sixteen hundreds, right. 42 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: But then the nineteenth century came and all of a sudden, 43 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: this is at the peak of the British Empire. Uh, 44 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: the early nineteenth century came along and London just exploded 45 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 1: in in population, in industry, um, right before and then 46 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 1: during and then right after the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Um, 47 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 1: London really uh just grew as a result of that, 48 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 1: and all of a sudden there was something like three 49 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 1: million people living in London by like the eighteen fifties, 50 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 1: which made it the most densely populated city on the 51 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: planet from what I understand, at least the it had 52 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: the largest population from what I understand. And you know 53 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: what that means, Yes, that means if there's how many 54 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:22,640 Speaker 1: millions you said three million, three in eighteen fifty, that's 55 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: three million butt holes. Yep, human butt holes are not 56 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: just humans expelling things now, just three million humans. And 57 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: then you've got horse butt holes and all sorts of 58 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,240 Speaker 1: other animal but holes, pig butt holes, and they're just 59 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: all they're all pooping all the time. Right, pooping. Every 60 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: once in a while they catch a food board all 61 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: this and they'd start throwing up to there is a 62 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: lot of tinkle coming out of other holes. Um, there's 63 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: a lot of excrement that was being generated in London 64 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, and there had been for a 65 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 1: very long time, but all of a sudden it reached 66 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: like a critical mass. And up to this point London 67 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: um enjoyed what we're called Roman sewards, which are basically 68 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,159 Speaker 1: just a ditch in the ground that were meant to 69 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: collect rainwater. Right, And if you had to poop or 70 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:22,479 Speaker 1: p or um vomit or something like that, and you 71 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: were a human in your house, you probably had a cesspool, 72 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: which was basically a pit in the basement. Sometimes, if 73 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,160 Speaker 1: you were fancy, you might have like a sister or 74 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:35,600 Speaker 1: a canister or something like that, and you would go 75 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:38,839 Speaker 1: pooper vomit or p into this hole. And then the 76 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: hope was that the whole was big enough and your 77 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:45,720 Speaker 1: family was small enough in number that the pooper p 78 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,599 Speaker 1: your vomit would would decay and get absorbed into the 79 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: surrounding ground faster than you could fill it up. That 80 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: was that was how they dealt with with um surface 81 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:00,839 Speaker 1: water and sewage. Then you had a hole that you 82 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: pooped and puked and from impeded. And then you had 83 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: rain ditches conveying rainwater to the to the Thames is 84 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:13,160 Speaker 1: where the rainwater was supposed to end up. But it 85 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: wasn't just rainwater was it that ended up in the Thames? No, 86 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: I mean these I mean I don't think we can 87 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:23,680 Speaker 1: just breaze past these cesspools. They were purposely designed to 88 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:28,119 Speaker 1: overflow into the streets. Eventually, yes, they figured out that, yeah, 89 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:30,679 Speaker 1: we're getting to the point where we have enough people 90 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: that that ore are cesspools are not decaying fast enough 91 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,039 Speaker 1: that they're starting to overflow. Yeah. And if you lived 92 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: if you were poor and lived on like the basement 93 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: or the ground floor of an apartment building or something, um, 94 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:49,880 Speaker 1: you might very well see the stuff seeping into your household. Uh. 95 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:52,520 Speaker 1: Sometimes if that's if like someone's gone or if it's 96 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,360 Speaker 1: an empty building, that stuff would build up and methane 97 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:58,839 Speaker 1: would become trapped in there and there would be literal 98 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:04,920 Speaker 1: explosions for the trap methane of people's pooh poop explosion. Yeah, 99 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:07,680 Speaker 1: it was really really bad. And then when you talk 100 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: about the Thames, river. The Thames is a tide way, 101 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:14,799 Speaker 1: so that means that the tides affect the water flow 102 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: and so it's not like sewage. You know, they were 103 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: thought like, let's just send it out to the sea 104 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:23,160 Speaker 1: and it's all good. But what it would would happen 105 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: is stuff would just kind of slash back and forth 106 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: because of the tides. And the end result was the 107 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:34,039 Speaker 1: Thames River was and when I say disgusting, I mean 108 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: capital D disgusting, Yes, dangerously disgusting Capital D dangerously too. Yeah, 109 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: so um, chuck, it was. I don't know how they 110 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 1: didn't realize that where London was on the Thames was 111 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:50,480 Speaker 1: what's called the tide way, so it is affected by 112 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:52,920 Speaker 1: the tide. And not only is it affected by the tide, 113 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: meaning when the tide rises, the um the estuary and 114 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: the sea basically comes up into London, but there's also 115 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: still water coming from the headwaters of the Thames. So 116 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 1: at high tide sometimes the Thames would overflow its banks 117 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: it would get so high. Right, So not only did 118 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: you have the Thames itself just basically turning into like 119 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:19,760 Speaker 1: a washing machine on the agitation cycle, stewing and mixing 120 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 1: up garbage and remains because there are a lot of 121 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: dead human and animal bodies and it's much all yeah, 122 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 1: all that sewage, everything that people didn't want anymore, they 123 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: just put into the Thames. But unfortunately it wasn't carried 124 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: out to the seat. It was just kind of mixed together, 125 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: and it would be mixed together and kind of turned 126 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:43,840 Speaker 1: into a solution that was suspended in the in the water, 127 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: and then eventually some of that would settle to the 128 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: to the bottom. But you have hundreds and hundreds of 129 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: years of waste just cycling right outside of London, and 130 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: like you said, eventually by the by the the nineteenth century, 131 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 1: apparently it really turned earned starting in about eighteen thirty. 132 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: They found records that as as late as eighteen hundred 133 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: people were still um catching and eating salmon out of 134 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 1: the Thames. By by eight well it was okay back then, 135 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:17,600 Speaker 1: it was fine that by eighteen thirties something had changed 136 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 1: that that it had just again reached that critical mass 137 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:24,240 Speaker 1: kind of like um, jeverson that South park where um 138 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 1: they go to the water park and like there there 139 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: there's like some scientists who realizes that the the p 140 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 1: to water ratio is about to hit a tipping point. 141 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,199 Speaker 1: And once it tips past that point, everything's going to 142 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 1: turn into p um and it happens, and it's disgusting. 143 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 1: That's all kind of what happened to the eighteen thirties 144 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:47,160 Speaker 1: to the Thames. It reached a critical point and tipped 145 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 1: into just like that dangerously disgusting vat of water that 146 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 1: was just hanging around in London at the time. Yeah. So, uh, 147 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: there's a very famous scientist named Michael Faraday who made 148 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: his name in UH in other realms of science, but 149 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,720 Speaker 1: he actually worked for the Royal Institution UH in eighteen 150 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:11,960 Speaker 1: fifty five when he basically started doing an investigation. He 151 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 1: went down to that river like got in it in 152 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: a boat, I would imagine, UH, and did various tests 153 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 1: and you know, recorded a bunch of stuff. And then 154 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: one of his tests was like he would drop white 155 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: paper in there and he said, after this paper gets 156 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,080 Speaker 1: in like an inch below the surface, you can't even 157 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 1: see it, and like poop is basically like bubbling up 158 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: to the surface, Like you can see human excrement on 159 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:41,720 Speaker 1: the surface down here. Yeah, like where where the time 160 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:44,840 Speaker 1: the attempts is flowing past, like the structure of a 161 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 1: bridge that is jutting out of the water and it's 162 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 1: it's being cut up by that bridge. The flow is 163 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: it's roiling up this muck and disgusting stuff is just 164 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:57,320 Speaker 1: roiling up in clouds. That he said, we're visible even 165 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:00,720 Speaker 1: in this this opaque of a water. And he wrote 166 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 1: all this stuff up into an article letter I guess 167 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 1: that he sent to the Times newspaper, uh that he 168 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:10,960 Speaker 1: called Observations on the Filth of the Thames. And this 169 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:13,800 Speaker 1: was in eighteen fifty five, I think it was published. 170 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: And um, he basically says, if we just keep going 171 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:21,080 Speaker 1: this way, we should not be surprised if um, something 172 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 1: really bad happens, like a hot spell comes along and 173 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:27,040 Speaker 1: reminds us that we really missed a chance to do 174 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: something about this, and it's now too late. So that's 175 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:34,200 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty five, and that's faaraday. At the same time, 176 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 1: there's another thing going on kind of off to the side, 177 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 1: where a um, a scientist named John Snow who actually 178 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:47,640 Speaker 1: knew a lot. It turns out he um was that 179 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:51,320 Speaker 1: was a Game of Thrones joke. Yeah, didn't somebody say, like, 180 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:56,240 Speaker 1: you know nothing, John Snow? I think, but I think 181 00:10:56,280 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 1: that might have been first season. But anyway, but did 182 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:03,559 Speaker 1: make an impact. I think somebody said, you know nothing, 183 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:05,080 Speaker 1: John Snow. I don't know. I just saw it on 184 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 1: Twitter years back, right they said red wedding. I don't know. 185 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 1: They just just say red wedding. That's it. Um. So, 186 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:17,959 Speaker 1: this John Snow guy, I think he had an H 187 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:20,319 Speaker 1: in his name, which was his parents put in to 188 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: differentiate him from the Game of Thrones cat is um. 189 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:28,800 Speaker 1: He He was basically one of the world's first epidemiologists 190 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: and he's working feverishly at the time because there was 191 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:35,880 Speaker 1: something called the Victorian plague, which is cholera, and cholera 192 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:40,320 Speaker 1: was a water borne illness that you did not want. 193 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:45,560 Speaker 1: You could literally vomit and poop yourself to death in 194 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:48,959 Speaker 1: a matter of hours. You would lose so much um 195 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: how you would dehydrate that quickly. And so John Snow 196 00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:57,480 Speaker 1: was like, there's a caller outbreak, and I suspect it's 197 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,800 Speaker 1: in the water. But he went against a grain at 198 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: the time because during the eighteen fifties, Chuck, everyone thought 199 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,920 Speaker 1: that you caught diseases from the smell of things. It 200 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:14,360 Speaker 1: was called the miasma theory. That's right. People thought that, 201 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:17,560 Speaker 1: and they thought that possibly that's where even cholera was 202 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: coming from UH, and cholera was was nothing new. UH. 203 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,920 Speaker 1: There was an epidemic in the eighteen thirties that killed 204 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:28,000 Speaker 1: more than six thousand people. There was a second outbreak 205 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: kind of shortly before this in the late forties that 206 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:34,520 Speaker 1: killed fourteen thousand, So that's twenty and then between fifty 207 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: three and fifty four another ten. So that's thirty thousand 208 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:44,440 Speaker 1: Londoners UH killed by cholera. And there are miasthmus that think, yeah, 209 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:48,120 Speaker 1: it's from it's from smelling this stuff in the air, right, 210 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:50,439 Speaker 1: so people are trying to like treat the air. They 211 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 1: poured something called um calcium of chloride of lime, which 212 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:01,440 Speaker 1: amounts to basically pool chlorine today into the Thames, like 213 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,280 Speaker 1: a hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth of this stuff 214 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:06,560 Speaker 1: to try to cover up the stench. That didn't work 215 00:13:06,559 --> 00:13:09,160 Speaker 1: and actually has made the Thames more toxic. But John 216 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:11,800 Speaker 1: Snow is running around, He's like, no, no, there's there's 217 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:14,480 Speaker 1: some other method of transmission. It has nothing to do 218 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: with the smell. Smells just a byproduct. And he actually 219 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:22,560 Speaker 1: did a an an outbreak map of cholera and traced 220 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:26,719 Speaker 1: it back to a particular well a public well that 221 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:30,800 Speaker 1: had been dug unbeknownst to the well diggers, within about 222 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 1: um three or four feet of an abandoned cess pool 223 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: that had been built over and forgotten, and that the 224 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:44,679 Speaker 1: cess pool that contained color laden fecal bacteria um into 225 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:49,400 Speaker 1: the the the public well was making people sick, and 226 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:52,080 Speaker 1: John Snow figured it out, and he's considered one of 227 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:56,360 Speaker 1: the early earliest epidemiologists as a result. All right, let's 228 00:13:56,360 --> 00:13:59,920 Speaker 1: take a break and uh, I need to go wash 229 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,200 Speaker 1: my hands, and then we'll come back and talk about 230 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:05,480 Speaker 1: what happened in the summer of eighteen fifty eight right 231 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:32,320 Speaker 1: after this. All right, so the times is in bad shape. 232 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 1: A few very smart people realize this. They're trying to 233 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,280 Speaker 1: raise a little hay about it. Nothing much is happening. 234 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:44,160 Speaker 1: People are getting cholera. Poor people are dying. But because 235 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: you know, I was about to say, because as Britain, 236 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 1: but a lot of countries back then may have handled 237 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: this the same way. Uh it really until it hit 238 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:54,280 Speaker 1: kind of the the politicians and the rich and the 239 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 1: famous is when things really are going to change. And 240 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 1: in the summer of eighteen fifty eight, eat wave is 241 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:06,440 Speaker 1: what really really changed things. Because the heat combined with 242 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: the the what was going on in that river really 243 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:14,680 Speaker 1: made what was called the Great stinkh Capital g Capital 244 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:18,760 Speaker 1: s in London. And it was happening all up and 245 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:21,960 Speaker 1: down the Thims, but it was happening very close to where, 246 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 1: uh what was it Westminster where the politicians yeah, huddled 247 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:29,240 Speaker 1: and uh and made their little rules and they couldn't 248 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 1: they basically couldn't go to work. They were like, you 249 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:35,120 Speaker 1: know what, this is starting to affect our government. We're 250 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:40,160 Speaker 1: using scented handkerchiefs. Uh, none of this is working. So 251 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: like we finally it took that to be able to 252 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:46,520 Speaker 1: it be like in America, if you know, there was 253 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 1: something going on and no one reacted until like poop 254 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:53,239 Speaker 1: was flowing up the steps of the White House basically right, basically, 255 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:55,840 Speaker 1: and the the the irony of the whole thing is 256 00:15:55,880 --> 00:16:00,120 Speaker 1: that had it not been for um, the persistence of 257 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 1: myasthma theory of disease, Parliament might have not actually ended 258 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: up acting because so you have to, you have to 259 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:10,640 Speaker 1: put yourself in this. So this stink is so bad 260 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:15,360 Speaker 1: that we're talking about it a hundred and fifty or 261 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: sixty years later, right, That's how bad it was it 262 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:25,560 Speaker 1: was a legendarily bad offensive stench. And not only was 263 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,360 Speaker 1: it a terrible, wretching smell of supposedly people miles away 264 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:32,240 Speaker 1: would catch scent of it and throw up, like just 265 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 1: throw up where they were standing. It was that bad. 266 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:39,680 Speaker 1: Because again we're talking hundreds of years of human waste 267 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:43,720 Speaker 1: and animal waste and um and decaying bodies and just 268 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 1: all sorts of nastiness and destines. Like you know what 269 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 1: they did with this, you know, when they were like 270 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:52,359 Speaker 1: preparing animals for slaughter. It went to the same place exactly. 271 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 1: And again, this is hundreds of years of this stuff, 272 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:57,680 Speaker 1: and the Thames has um slowed to a trickle because 273 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:01,320 Speaker 1: it's a dry spell, and now because of this heat wave, 274 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:04,840 Speaker 1: it's cooking. The Thames is cooking, all this nasty stuff 275 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:07,359 Speaker 1: is cooking and the stench is coming off. So on 276 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:10,960 Speaker 1: top of it being that bad of a smell, you 277 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:12,800 Speaker 1: also have to put yourself in the position of the 278 00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:15,359 Speaker 1: people who are living at the time, who believed that 279 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:20,440 Speaker 1: smells cause disease, that cholera and typhus and malaria are caused, 280 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:22,919 Speaker 1: like if you smell it, you may have just caught it. 281 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:26,680 Speaker 1: So they are terrified of this. But had john snow 282 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: had people listened to him and realized that no, you 283 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 1: get it from actually drinking the water, which is what 284 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:36,359 Speaker 1: they're doing right. But Parliament may not have acted because 285 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:39,160 Speaker 1: Parliament and some of the wealthier people in London they 286 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 1: got their water from like north of the city, um 287 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 1: piped in through aqueducts, so they had clean drinking water. 288 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: It was the lower classes that were drinking the water 289 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,440 Speaker 1: drawn straight from the Thames, so they were drinking the 290 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 1: same water that they were throwing their waste into. Because 291 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:58,320 Speaker 1: they didn't realize that there was such thing as um 292 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: the oral equal oral transmission of water borne illnesses. Everybody 293 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:07,760 Speaker 1: thought it was just the stench. Yea. So parliaments uh 294 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:11,160 Speaker 1: notoriously very slow to get anything done, like a lot 295 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:16,000 Speaker 1: of governments. Uh. And then it took about, uh what 296 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:18,920 Speaker 1: eighteen days, which was super fast. I think it was 297 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,120 Speaker 1: a record. Yeah, I think so too. And they created 298 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: a bill past this bill and signed it into law 299 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:29,960 Speaker 1: that basically said we need to basically re redo the 300 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:32,840 Speaker 1: river here. I don't know what it's gonna take. Um. 301 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:34,320 Speaker 1: I don't even think they knew how much it was 302 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:36,679 Speaker 1: gonna cost at the time, but they knew that the 303 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 1: great stink had to stop right. So um. Again, this 304 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,160 Speaker 1: was after it kind of like you said, the poop 305 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:48,880 Speaker 1: just piled up at their doorstep, right. But they had fortunately, 306 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:52,359 Speaker 1: just like a couple of years before, I think maybe 307 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,600 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty five, they created a new department UM. Up 308 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:00,760 Speaker 1: to this time, like the water works and the UM, 309 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 1: I think the sewage works were privately held. But Parliament 310 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 1: had just recently created a new department called the Metropolitan 311 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:14,399 Speaker 1: Board of Works, and they had UM designated a chief 312 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:20,000 Speaker 1: engineer by the name of Joseph H. Basil Get. Isn't 313 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:22,679 Speaker 1: that how you would say it? Sure, we're going with 314 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 1: basil Get, then chuck if you're on board with that. 315 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:28,160 Speaker 1: So Joseph basil Get would turn out to be one 316 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:32,960 Speaker 1: of the most celebrated engineers in Western history. And he 317 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:35,640 Speaker 1: just so happened to have kind of gotten on the 318 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:38,520 Speaker 1: Michael Faraday trolley and been like, yes, we need to 319 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:42,399 Speaker 1: do something about the Thames. And the solution is a sewer. 320 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 1: It's a modernized sewer. So he had spent years already 321 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:48,840 Speaker 1: drawing up plans and trying to get them implemented to 322 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:51,960 Speaker 1: no avail, and now all of a sudden, out of nowhere. 323 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:56,680 Speaker 1: Within eighteen days of this, the great stink developing, the 324 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:00,679 Speaker 1: Parliament says, hey, Basil get go, get your plans. We're 325 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,560 Speaker 1: gonna put him into uh. You go raise some money, 326 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:06,720 Speaker 1: say about three million dollars, which is like I think 327 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,800 Speaker 1: four d and thirty million dollars today three million pounds um, 328 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:13,800 Speaker 1: and get to work as fast as you can. Yeah. 329 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:17,160 Speaker 1: Before this, the UH, they didn't even have, like before 330 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 1: the Metropolitan Board of Works, they didn't even have a 331 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:24,240 Speaker 1: a group that was even funded to tackle anything like this. 332 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,680 Speaker 1: And then once they even had the Metropolitan Board, it 333 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,040 Speaker 1: wasn't really funded yet. So that's why they had to 334 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:32,800 Speaker 1: go out and raise money. So the hiring of Basil 335 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:38,040 Speaker 1: Gat was Basil Gat. Basil Gette is the Italian. No 336 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:41,800 Speaker 1: I think his family originated in revolutionary France, so let's 337 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:44,159 Speaker 1: say Basil get Yeah, so the hiring of him was 338 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:47,520 Speaker 1: fortuitous because he knew what he was doing. Um, he 339 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:49,680 Speaker 1: was definitely the guy to come in and take care 340 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 1: of this and his plan, like it was so revolutionary 341 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:57,800 Speaker 1: that it's still in its simplicity though that it's still 342 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: sort of the basis for how things work aday all 343 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:02,920 Speaker 1: these years later. Yeah, No, I mean, not only was 344 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: the revolutionary, was that well built as well, Like it's 345 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:09,919 Speaker 1: it's the that sewer built in from like eighteen fifty 346 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:13,919 Speaker 1: eight to I think the eighteen seventies forms the backbone 347 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:17,679 Speaker 1: of London's metropolitan sewer system. Still to this day. It 348 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:20,000 Speaker 1: was that well made. Oh yeah, So he's like, here's 349 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 1: what we'll do. He says, We're gonna catch this water, uh, 350 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:25,359 Speaker 1: and the waste like you know, rain water and stuff, 351 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:29,119 Speaker 1: surface water before it gets to the river. And everyone said, 352 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:33,000 Speaker 1: good start, and he said, and then then we're gonna 353 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:36,199 Speaker 1: just reroute it. Basically, we're gonna run it parallel to 354 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:41,440 Speaker 1: the river and uh, combine these sewers together and divert 355 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:46,080 Speaker 1: this stuff downstream. And again the plan those sadly is 356 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:48,879 Speaker 1: still to divert it out to the sea, but just 357 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,360 Speaker 1: not to the sea such that it would wash right 358 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:56,359 Speaker 1: back in with the tides exactly. And and most importantly 359 00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,640 Speaker 1: where where it dumped out into the Thames was way 360 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:03,640 Speaker 1: below the populated area, so it was out of sight, 361 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,359 Speaker 1: out of mind, but it was still I mean, is 362 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:10,400 Speaker 1: that that is definitely a mark against it, But with 363 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:14,440 Speaker 1: considering what he had to work with, it was quite revolutionary. 364 00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:17,399 Speaker 1: The idea of catching all this stuff and moving it 365 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: away from the city to keep the Thames clean. Right, 366 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:23,000 Speaker 1: all right, So let's take another break and we'll come 367 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:27,200 Speaker 1: back and talk more about basil Gets plan that actually 368 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:53,439 Speaker 1: worked right after this. So Chuck Um, you said, like, 369 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:57,359 Speaker 1: the main part of basil Gets plan was, um to 370 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:00,439 Speaker 1: basically build a subtranean sewer that rampare a little to 371 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:06,200 Speaker 1: the Thames. That was big. I saw somewhere else miles. 372 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:07,639 Speaker 1: I don't know where they got that, but let's go 373 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:11,040 Speaker 1: with eighty two miles because it sounds much much more realistic. 374 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,679 Speaker 1: But um that that in parts were big enough to 375 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,960 Speaker 1: build it to to run a train through. And in fact, 376 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:22,400 Speaker 1: some of these underground sewer tunnels they're like, well, it's 377 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:25,959 Speaker 1: also build the underground subway system at the same time. Um. 378 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,320 Speaker 1: So it was a massive project. And those use gravity. 379 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,040 Speaker 1: They had like a two ft drop per mile, which 380 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:34,720 Speaker 1: is a pretty good drop, so they would conduct the 381 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:39,080 Speaker 1: sewage and rainwater down down towards the Thames, but not 382 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 1: at the times using gravity. And then smaller ones were 383 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:45,240 Speaker 1: egg shaped so that they they were narrower at the bottom, 384 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:47,200 Speaker 1: so that would kind of get the flow going even 385 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:52,120 Speaker 1: faster too. So, um, that's like the main part, that's 386 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 1: the bulk of of this project, but it's certainly not 387 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:58,640 Speaker 1: the whole thing by a long shot, No, not at all. 388 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,320 Speaker 1: So they uh realized that they were like, you know, 389 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,720 Speaker 1: even if you build a house that runs on gravity, 390 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,439 Speaker 1: there might be low lying areas of your sewage pipe 391 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:12,480 Speaker 1: that eventually calls you problems. I've been through this myself. 392 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:14,879 Speaker 1: It's no fun. No one wants to deal with poop, 393 00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:20,200 Speaker 1: whether it's Victorian London or modern day Atlanta. And so 394 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:23,159 Speaker 1: like today, you have to pump that stuff out. So 395 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:27,080 Speaker 1: they built these giant pumping stations, a few different ones, 396 00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:32,000 Speaker 1: um Crossness, Abbey Mills, Chelsea and Deptford. And they made 397 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:35,399 Speaker 1: these things really nice looking, which was probably a pretty 398 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:40,720 Speaker 1: good move. Um, especially Abbey Mills and Crossness really really 399 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:44,240 Speaker 1: lovely buildings. They kind of look like cathedrals, which is 400 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:49,320 Speaker 1: ironic because they were pumping out poop the whole time. Uh. 401 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:51,919 Speaker 1: And it was this was really key there because like 402 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:53,880 Speaker 1: I said, this low lying you've got to take care 403 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,399 Speaker 1: of all of the problem or else it's just gonna 404 00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:59,520 Speaker 1: like magnify, you know. So it wasn't good enough just 405 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:02,359 Speaker 1: to be like, let's get it out, not worry about 406 00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:05,359 Speaker 1: the low levels or the low lying areas. So they 407 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 1: really had to pump it all out. Yeah, So so 408 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,040 Speaker 1: they built these beautiful pumping stations. One of the other 409 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: things that they did was they reclaimed a tremendous amount 410 00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:17,119 Speaker 1: of land from the Thames. At the time that the 411 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:20,840 Speaker 1: Thames just had natural banks, right like the river just 412 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:23,119 Speaker 1: kind of came up to the city and that was 413 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,640 Speaker 1: where you stopped, or that's where the building started. Um 414 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:30,920 Speaker 1: what they did was they built massive embankments that were 415 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,360 Speaker 1: but they were started with sea walls and then we're 416 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,399 Speaker 1: filled in that contained the sewers, contained the subway tunnels. 417 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:42,800 Speaker 1: That was just basically extending the city out into the Thames. 418 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:45,360 Speaker 1: And it did one thing. It gave you a lot 419 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:49,199 Speaker 1: more space. It also covered up the tunnels. But it 420 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:54,480 Speaker 1: also very wisely um brought the banks of the Thames 421 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:57,639 Speaker 1: closer together in those stretches through the city. So the 422 00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:01,240 Speaker 1: Thames went from wider to narrower, which had the effect 423 00:26:01,359 --> 00:26:05,520 Speaker 1: of increasing its flow through London. It used to flow 424 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,439 Speaker 1: much more slowly than it does now. But one of 425 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:10,600 Speaker 1: the ways that they kind of make sure that all 426 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,960 Speaker 1: that stuff washes through London and gets out to the sea. 427 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:16,959 Speaker 1: Is by bringing the banks closer together to narrow it 428 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 1: to UM push the same amount of volume of water 429 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:24,480 Speaker 1: through a narrower spot, which speeds the whole thing up. Yeah. 430 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:28,640 Speaker 1: So if you go to the Victoria embankment today, UM. 431 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:32,560 Speaker 1: Basil Get actually was knighted in eighteen seventy five because 432 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:35,560 Speaker 1: of these achievements that he made as an engineer, and 433 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,800 Speaker 1: that's where you're going to find the monument to him, UM. 434 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:40,800 Speaker 1: And he he was very funny, like if you ever 435 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:43,320 Speaker 1: read any interviews with him, he just kind of talks 436 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:45,960 Speaker 1: about what what a drag it was to do that 437 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:49,359 Speaker 1: job and how hard it was. Um, just sort of 438 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:52,600 Speaker 1: in a very understated English way. Um. But that's where 439 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 1: the monument is. And by eighteen sixty six it was 440 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:00,679 Speaker 1: evident that this plan was working because there was another 441 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:04,399 Speaker 1: cholera outbreak UM, and the only part of London that 442 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:07,320 Speaker 1: was really hit hard was the East End, which was 443 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:10,480 Speaker 1: the only section of London that wasn't connected to the 444 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:14,679 Speaker 1: sewer system. So they realized this, this is obviously working. 445 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,960 Speaker 1: It's going to stop this disease. UM. It's clearly not 446 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:22,080 Speaker 1: just airborne. So that that proved that correct too. Yeah, 447 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:25,160 Speaker 1: it definitely supported I think Louis Pasture by that time 448 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,000 Speaker 1: had formed his germ theory that Joseph Lister was really 449 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:31,320 Speaker 1: starting to demonstrate it in the seventies. So yeah, it 450 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 1: was pretty um, pretty pretty evident that that. You know that, 451 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,880 Speaker 1: and I think the microscope really kind of showed like, yeah, 452 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:41,360 Speaker 1: there's there are such things as germs that whole myasthma 453 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 1: theories out the window. Yeah. But uh, basil Gett was 454 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,359 Speaker 1: really smart because he was like he had foresight. He 455 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:50,760 Speaker 1: wasn't like, let me just solve this problem, like London 456 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,359 Speaker 1: has this many people and so just let me, let 457 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,639 Speaker 1: me build this thing to handle this many people. He 458 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:59,720 Speaker 1: built it with that on on the future and said, uh, 459 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:02,159 Speaker 1: you know, let's build it to accommodate a population growth 460 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:09,080 Speaker 1: of and um that happened within thirty years, London's population 461 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,160 Speaker 1: doubled again. But because of the fore side of basil 462 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:15,280 Speaker 1: get Um that things still remain pretty strong. At the time, 463 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:18,239 Speaker 1: it did, I mean think about that, right. So he 464 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:20,359 Speaker 1: was like, Okay, we'll make it so that four and 465 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:23,320 Speaker 1: a half million people can use this thing and it'll 466 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:26,240 Speaker 1: do just fine. He must have thought it would take 467 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:28,880 Speaker 1: forever to get to that number, and they reached six 468 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: million in thirty years. That's crazy, that's a crazy amount 469 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,840 Speaker 1: of population growth. And yet still basil gets designed worked 470 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:38,560 Speaker 1: And one of the reasons it worked was because he 471 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:40,600 Speaker 1: had a fail safe and I guess it was a 472 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 1: I guess you would call it a fail safe. But 473 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:48,840 Speaker 1: so if there were a lot of water that suddenly 474 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:51,080 Speaker 1: hit in the form of like rain or something like that, 475 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 1: like a flash flood. Remember, the sewers connected sewage and 476 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 1: rain water, so you didn't want the sewers overflowing into 477 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 1: the streets because that would sewage was overflowing in the streets. Right. 478 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:08,360 Speaker 1: What he designed were um basically outfalls or overflows, so 479 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:11,320 Speaker 1: that if there are a sudden large amount of rainwater 480 00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:15,280 Speaker 1: entered the sewers, it would be directed to spew into 481 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:18,000 Speaker 1: the Thames, which is not not the greatest thing you 482 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:21,840 Speaker 1: wanted to happen, but it would happen infrequently enough because 483 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:24,680 Speaker 1: the sewers were so big that um it was an 484 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:28,320 Speaker 1: acceptable fail safe, right, And it worked, And that's why 485 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:31,680 Speaker 1: we added more and more and more Londoners using the 486 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:35,600 Speaker 1: same sewer system because it had those outflows. Well, unfortunately 487 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:38,280 Speaker 1: now I've reached the point, thanks to things like climate 488 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,080 Speaker 1: change and the fact that it's creeping up on ten 489 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:45,440 Speaker 1: million Londoners, that the sewer system is now fairly routinely 490 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 1: discharging raw sewage and storm water anytime heavy rain comes along. 491 00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:54,320 Speaker 1: And don't get anybody started on the fatbirds either, because 492 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:57,320 Speaker 1: those are just making the problems even worse. So now 493 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:00,960 Speaker 1: there there has to be another update and they're working 494 00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:03,600 Speaker 1: on that right now too. Yeah, but London still uh, 495 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:06,840 Speaker 1: I mean, the Tyms is known as the cleanest river 496 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:11,720 Speaker 1: that runs through a major city despite this, Yeah, much 497 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:15,680 Speaker 1: because of the work of Basil get Um. But this 498 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: is a problem that these fifty overflows happening every year 499 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 1: no one's happy about. So they've they're underway, I think 500 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,160 Speaker 1: started a couple of years ago in two thousand and sixteen. 501 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:30,520 Speaker 1: The Tideway Tunnel Scheme UM, also known as the super Sewer, 502 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:35,400 Speaker 1: should be completed in two thousand twenty three. And what 503 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:39,479 Speaker 1: their goal basically is are these overflows that are, like 504 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:41,440 Speaker 1: I said, around fifty times a year, to get those 505 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:45,160 Speaker 1: down to no more than four every year, which is 506 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:49,840 Speaker 1: good quarterly dump, quarterly overflow, all right, not bad. That 507 00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:53,000 Speaker 1: beats almost once a week. Yeah, you could just make 508 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 1: it like a national holiday and everybody can leave town 509 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:57,920 Speaker 1: if you could schedule it. Yeah. So they've been working 510 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:00,320 Speaker 1: on this for a while and it's um. I mean, 511 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:02,920 Speaker 1: it's one of the biggest civil engineering projects in the 512 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:08,600 Speaker 1: world probably yeah, or history maybe it. Um. What's funny 513 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:11,080 Speaker 1: about it is that, like so basil Get created the 514 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:14,400 Speaker 1: sewer to catch the sewage before it reached the Thames. 515 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:18,720 Speaker 1: They're creating this super sewer, the tideway tunnel to catch 516 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:23,280 Speaker 1: the overflow from basil Gets sewers before it reaches the Thames. Yes, 517 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:26,960 Speaker 1: so his system is still the foundation. Yeah, I mean 518 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:29,440 Speaker 1: they've definitely added to it and and improved on it. They 519 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:33,160 Speaker 1: I guess sometime in the twentieth century stopped just pumping 520 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,080 Speaker 1: raw sewage into the Thames and started treating it instead. 521 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:39,320 Speaker 1: And then they still discharge the treated water into the Thames, 522 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:41,480 Speaker 1: but it's now going through a treatment process that wasn't 523 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,840 Speaker 1: there before. But yeah, but that that thing designed by 524 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 1: Basil Get this made of bricks, like three hundred something 525 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:53,440 Speaker 1: million bricks um is still the foundation of this sewer 526 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:57,400 Speaker 1: system in London. Pretty amazing. I think so too, man, 527 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,360 Speaker 1: all because of the Great stink of eighteen fifty because 528 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:02,960 Speaker 1: of a heat wave that came through and cooked several 529 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:06,080 Speaker 1: hundred years of poop and pea and vomit and dead bodies. 530 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 1: This makes me want to do, uh, maybe a short 531 00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:13,640 Speaker 1: stuff on the when the Kiaga River and accurate or 532 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:19,560 Speaker 1: in Ohio burned rivers on fire. That's not a good sign. No, 533 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:23,600 Speaker 1: it's not Port Cleveland. Everybody just kind of hung their 534 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:28,440 Speaker 1: head like, yeah, yeah, totally, yeah, Okay, we'll be a 535 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:31,479 Speaker 1: good short stuff. I think I agree, chuck uh. In 536 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:34,200 Speaker 1: the meantime, while we're whipping up that short stuff for you, 537 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:36,000 Speaker 1: if you want to know more about the Great Stink, 538 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:40,280 Speaker 1: head on over to um the Internet and read up 539 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:42,520 Speaker 1: on it because there's plenty of great articles, including some 540 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:45,800 Speaker 1: of the ones we used today. And since I said that, everybody, 541 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:52,280 Speaker 1: it's time for listener mail. Uh. Hey, guys, started listening 542 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:54,800 Speaker 1: to stuff you should know sometime last summer. Have been 543 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:57,440 Speaker 1: hooked ever since. I've been working my way back through 544 00:32:57,440 --> 00:32:59,440 Speaker 1: the catalog and probably listened to a couple of hundred. 545 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:02,000 Speaker 1: Listen to some of the other shows you guys talk about, 546 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:05,280 Speaker 1: but they feel too scripted. Your show is really well done, 547 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:09,520 Speaker 1: educational and entertaining thank you love Andrew, No kidding, there's 548 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:12,560 Speaker 1: more uh. In a few different episodes, you guys use 549 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:16,000 Speaker 1: the word yankee a lot. Uh. New England Vampires for 550 00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:20,400 Speaker 1: one Monument removal come to mind. Um. And by the way, 551 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:24,000 Speaker 1: if we use yankee, were either quoting or like our 552 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:27,320 Speaker 1: tongue is in our cheek. We're not like really saying yankee. No, 553 00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,120 Speaker 1: it's like loving if any no one really says that. 554 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:33,720 Speaker 1: I mean there are people that still say that anger, yeah, 555 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:37,280 Speaker 1: but they're read knecks. Um. I'm from New England and 556 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:40,040 Speaker 1: have lived all over New England and I'm still in 557 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,200 Speaker 1: New England. I wanted to share with you all my 558 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:45,920 Speaker 1: favorite definition of yankee if you're from the South. And 559 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:47,920 Speaker 1: by the way, I should preface this by saying I 560 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:51,280 Speaker 1: don't get it. If you're from the South, a yankee 561 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:53,600 Speaker 1: is someone from the North. If you're from the North, 562 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:56,440 Speaker 1: a yankee is someone from New England. If you're from 563 00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:59,960 Speaker 1: New England, a yankee is someone from Vermont who eat 564 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:03,320 Speaker 1: it's pie for breakfast with a knife. M Do you 565 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:07,440 Speaker 1: get that? No? I think. Um. What Andrew doesn't realize 566 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:09,400 Speaker 1: is that the person who told him that is insane 567 00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:12,880 Speaker 1: and that the only person who gets it as the 568 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 1: person who told them that. Well, he said, this comes 569 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,759 Speaker 1: from an old timey farmer in Vermont that I used 570 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:21,080 Speaker 1: to work for. So wait pie with a knife and 571 00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:25,640 Speaker 1: left himself a lot. Glad you got out of there live, Andrew. Thanks, 572 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:29,719 Speaker 1: Thanks Andrew. If anyone out there can shed some light 573 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:34,400 Speaker 1: on Andrew's farmers friends joke, we'd love to know, you 574 00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:36,040 Speaker 1: can get in touch with us. Go to stuff you 575 00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:39,120 Speaker 1: Should Know dot com and check out our social links there. Uh, 576 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:41,000 Speaker 1: and you can also just send us a good old 577 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:45,000 Speaker 1: fashioned email. To Stuff podcast at how stuff works dot 578 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:52,360 Speaker 1: com for more on this and thousands of other topics. 579 00:34:52,600 --> 00:35:04,399 Speaker 1: Is it how stuff works dot com