"in the early half of the 20th century, Londoners used coal for heating their homes, which produced large amounts of smoke. In combination with climatic conditions this often caused a characteristic smog, and London became known for its typical ""London Fog"", also known as ""Pea Soupers"". London was sometimes referred to as ""The Smoke"" because of this. In 1952, this culminated in the disastrous Great Smog of 1952 which lasted for five days and killed over 4,000 people. In response to this, the Clean Air Act 1956 was passed, mandating the creating of ""smokeless zones"" where the use of ""smokeless"""
"Great Smog of London The Great Smog of London, or Great Smog of 1952, was a severe air-pollution event that affected the British capital of London in early December 1952. A period of cold weather, combined with an anticyclone and windless conditions, collected airborne pollutants—mostly arising from the use of coal—to form a thick layer of smog over the city. It lasted from Friday, 5 December to Tuesday, 9 December 1952 and then dispersed quickly when the weather changed. It caused major disruption by reducing visibility and even penetrating indoor areas, far more severe than previous smog events experienced in"
"Cairo fire The Cairo fire (), also known as Black Saturday, was a series of riots that took place on 26 January 1952, marked by the burning and looting of some 750 buildings—retail shops, cafes, cinemas, hotels, restaurants, theatres, nightclubs, and the city's Opera House—in downtown Cairo. The direct trigger of the riots was the killing by British occupation troops of 50 Egyptian auxiliary policemen in the city of Ismaïlia in a one-sided battle a day earlier. The spontaneous anti-British protests that followed these deaths were quickly seized upon by organized elements in the crowd, who burned and ransacked large"
"number of fatalities was considerably greater than contemporary estimates, at about 12,000. The death toll formed an important impetus to modern environmentalism, and it caused a rethinking of air pollution, as the smog had demonstrated its lethal potential. New regulations were implemented, restricting the use of dirty fuels in industry and banning black smoke. Environmental legislation since 1952, such as the City of London (Various Powers) Act 1954 and the Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968, led to a reduction in air pollution. Financial incentives were offered to householders to replace open coal fires with alternatives (such as installing"
"to sewers and empty into the Thames. As a result, a cholera epidemic (1848–49) killed 14,137 Londoners. Bazalgette was appointed assistant surveyor to the Commission in 1849, taking over as Engineer in 1852, after his predecessor died of ""harassing fatigues and anxieties."" Soon after, another cholera epidemic struck, in 1853, killing 10,738. Medical opinion at the time held that cholera was caused by foul air: a so-called ""miasma"". Physician Dr John Snow had earlier advanced a different explanation, which is now known to be correct: cholera was spread by contaminated water. His view was not then generally accepted. Championed by"
"regular epidemics of cholera, smallpox, measles and typhoid. Public health policy at this time was generally shaped by the miasma theory (the belief that airborne particles were the primary factor in the spread of contagious disease), and the bad smells and risks of disease caused by piled bodies and exhumed rotting corpses caused great public concern. A Royal Commission established in 1842 to investigate the problem concluded that London's burial grounds had become so overcrowded that it was impossible to dig a new grave without cutting through an existing one. In 1848–49 a cholera epidemic killed 14,601 people in London"
"same year describes how the smoke ""does our lungs and spirits choke, Our hanging spoil, and rust our iron."" Severe episodes of smog continued in the 19th and 20th centuries, mainly in the winter, and were nicknamed ""pea-soupers,"" from the phrase ""as thick as pea soup"". The Great Smog of 1952 darkened the streets of London and killed approximately 4,000 people in the short time of four days (a further 8,000 died from its effects in the following weeks and months). Initially a flu epidemic was blamed for the loss of life. In 1956 the Clean Air Act started legally"
"worst recorded instance was the Great Smog of 1952, when 4,000 deaths were reported in the city over a couple of days, and a subsequent 8,000 related deaths, leading to the passage of the Clean Air Act 1956, which banned the use of coal for domestic fires in some urban areas. The overall death toll from that incident is now believed to be around 12,000. In Chapter XXXIV of Thomas Love Peacock's ""Melincourt"" (1817), the Reverend Mr. Portpipe tells his visitors that he has ""good ale and a few bottles of London Particular."" A footnote by David Garnett, editor of"
"coal smoke in particular, built up dramatically. The problem was made worse by use of low-quality, high-sulphur coal for home heating in London in order to permit export of higher-quality coal, because of the country's tenuous postwar economic situation. The ""fog"", or smog, was so thick that driving became difficult or impossible. The extreme reduction in visibility was accompanied by an increase in criminal activity as well as transportation delays and a virtual shut down of the city. During the 4 day period of fog, at least 4,000 people died as a direct result of the weather. More areas of"
"for new burials, their contents being unearthed and scattered. Decaying corpses contaminated the water supply, and the city suffered regular epidemics of cholera, smallpox, measles and typhoid. A Royal Commission established in 1842 to investigate the problem concluded that London's burial grounds had become so overcrowded that it was impossible to dig a new grave without cutting through an existing one. In 1848–49 a cholera epidemic killed 14,601 people in London and overwhelmed the burial system completely. In the wake of public concerns following the cholera epidemics and the findings of a Royal Commission, the Act to Amend the Laws"
"On 6 July 2005 London won the right to host the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics making it the first city to host the modern games three times. However, celebrations were cut short the following day when the city was rocked by a series of terrorist attacks. More than 50 were killed and 750 injured in three bombings on London Underground trains and a fourth on a double decker bus near King's Cross. London was the starting point for countrywide riots which occurred in August 2011, when thousands of people rioted in several city boroughs and in towns across England. In"
"behalf of the big companies that allowed the spread of cholera to progress rapidly. He went on to prove his theory through the observation of prisons in London, finding that cholera ceased in these places only a few days after switching to cleaner water sources. On 31 August 1854, after several other outbreaks had occurred elsewhere in the city, a major outbreak of cholera occurred in Soho. Snow, the physician who eventually linked the outbreak to contaminated water, later called it ""the most terrible outbreak of cholera which ever occurred in this kingdom."" Over the next three days, 127 people"
"attack on London was on 10/11 May 1941, on which the ""Luftwaffe"" flew 571 sorties and dropped 800 tonnes of bombs. This caused more than 2,000 fires. 1,436 people were killed and 1,792 seriously injured, which affected morale badly. Another raid was carried out on 11/12 May 1941. Westminster Abbey and the Law Courts were damaged, while the Chamber of the House of Commons was destroyed. One-third of London's streets were impassable. All but one railway station line was blocked for several weeks. This raid was significant, as 63 German fighters were sent with the bombers, indicating the growing effectiveness"
"Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash The Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash was a three-train collision at Harrow and Wealdstone station in Wealdstone, Middlesex (now Greater London) during the morning rush hour of 8 October 1952; 112 were killed and 340 injured (88 of these being detained in hospital); it remains the worst peacetime rail crash in the United Kingdom. An overnight express train from Perth crashed at speed into the rear of a local passenger train standing at a platform at the station. The wreckage blocked adjacent lines and was struck within seconds by a ""double-headed"" express train travelling north"
"Reactions to the 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of suicide attacks carried out by homegrown terrorists on London's public transport network during the morning rush hour. The bombings, three on the London Underground and one on a bus, killed 52 people and prompted a massive response from the emergency services, and in the immediate aftermath the almost-complete shut down of the city's transport system. Over the following hours and days there were several security alerts throughout the United Kingdom, and in some foreign cities. London largely returned to normality in the following days,"
"50,000 - his rationale for suggesting that 3,000 deaths out of 50,000 is implausible is not, however, explained. Nevertheless, no reliable evidence survives to allow an accurate estimate of the number of casualties caused by the great fire of 1212, but it is known that the damage done to London Bridge was such that the structure remained a ruin, only partially usable, for years afterwards. There were other serious fires in London in 1130 and 1132. Further major fires of London are noted in 13th century London in the years 1220, 1227, and 1299, but none that had the impact"
"in increasingly violent hostility towards Britain and British troops in Egypt, which the Egyptian authorities did little to curb. On 25 January 1952, British forces attempted to disarm a troublesome auxiliary police force barracks in Ismailia, resulting in the deaths of 41 Egyptians. This in turn led to anti-Western riots in Cairo resulting in heavy damage to property and the deaths of several foreigners, including 11 British citizens. This proved to be a catalyst for the removal of the Egyptian monarchy. On 23 July 1952 a military coup by the Egyptian nationalist 'Free Officers Movement'—led by Muhammad Neguib and future"
"2001 attacks.) Reactions to the 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of suicide attacks carried out by homegrown terrorists on London's public transport network during the morning rush hour. The bombings, three on the London Underground and one on a bus, killed 52 people and prompted a massive response from the emergency services, and in the immediate aftermath the almost-complete shut down of the city's transport system. Over the following hours and days there were several security alerts throughout the United Kingdom, and in some foreign cities. London largely returned to normality in the"
"the City under aerial attack were followed by crime, such as looting, and theft of goods and foodstuffs for illicit sales as black market rationed goods. This also fuelled the activities of criminal gangs who continued and expanded their activities after the war. By 1948, the number of recorded crimes in London had risen tenfold from the 1920s, to more than 126,000. By 1959 they had reached 160,000. On the night of 2 November 1952, Derek Bentley and Christopher Craig set out to break into the confectionery manufacturers Barlow & Parker in Croydon. Bentley and Craig were spotted climbing up"
"were to no avail; the worsening weather and unsustainable attrition in daylight gave ""OKL"" an excuse to switch to night attacks on 7 October. On 14 October, the heaviest night attack to date saw 380 German bombers from ""Luftflotte"" 3 hit London. Around 200 people were killed and another 2,000 injured. British anti-aircraft defences (General Frederick Alfred Pile) fired 8,326 rounds and shot down only two bombers. On 15 October, the bombers returned and about 900 fires were started by the mix of of high explosive and of incendiaries dropped. Five main rail lines were cut in London and rolling"
"the past, called ""pea-soupers"". Government medical reports in the following weeks, however, estimated that up until 8 December, 4,000 people had died as a direct result of the smog and 100,000 more were made ill by the smog's effects on the human respiratory tract. More recent research suggests that the total number of fatalities was considerably greater; about 6,000 more died in the following months as a result of the event. London had suffered since the 13th century from poor air quality, which worsened in the 1600s, but the Great Smog is known to be the worst air-pollution event in"
"2011 England riots The 2011 England riots, more widely known as the London Riots were a series of riots between the 6th of August and 11 August 2011, when thousands of people rioted in cities and towns across England, saw looting, arson, and mass deployment of police, and resulted in the deaths of five people. Protests started in Tottenham, London, following the death of Mark Duggan, a local man who was shot dead by police on 4 August. Several violent clashes with police ensued, along with the destruction of police vehicles, a double-decker bus and many homes and businesses, thus"
"of deaths — 160 were killed and 108 seriously injured in one explosion at 12:26 pm on 25 November 1944, at a Woolworth's department store in New Cross, south-east London. British intelligence sent false reports via their Double-Cross System implying that the rockets were over-shooting their London target by . This tactic worked; more than half of the V-2s aimed at London landed outside the London Civil Defense Region. Most landed on less-heavily populated areas in Kent due to erroneous recalibration. For the remainder of the war, British intelligence kept up the ruse by repeatedly sending bogus reports implying that"
"one million people died of cholera. In 1853–54, the epidemic in London claimed over 10,000 lives, and 23,000 deaths occurred in all of Great Britain. This pandemic was considered to have the highest fatalities of the 19th-century epidemics. Like the earlier pandemics, cholera spread from the Ganges Delta of India. It had high fatalities among populations in Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America. In 1854, which was considered the worst year, 23,000 people died in Great Britain. During the second pandemic, the scientific community varied in its beliefs about the causes of cholera. In France, doctors believed cholera was associated"
"of 1952 in London—killed at least 4000 people. This prompted some of the first major modern environmental legislation: the Clean Air Act of 1956. Pollution began to draw major public attention in the United States between the mid-1950s and early 1970s, when Congress passed the Noise Control Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. Severe incidents of pollution helped increase consciousness. PCB dumping in the Hudson River resulted in a ban by the EPA on consumption of its fish in 1974. National news stories in the late 1970s—especially the long-term dioxin contamination"
"to have died in the immediate aftermath, triggering great public concern, with fog so thick it stopped trains, cars, and public events. A further 8,000 died in following weeks and months. It quickly became clear that pollution had become a real and deadly problem, and the smog's terrible effects may have helped inspire the modern environmental movement. Despite this, however, and data from the Ministry of Health indicative of substantially elevated death rates in London, the Government initially resisted pressure to act, and was keen to downplay the scale of the problem due to economic pressures. It took the recommendations"
"two people died in Hammersmith, and two more in Fulham. Another 4,000 Londoners were made homeless, as water filled the streets to a depth of four feet (1.2 m). Westminster Hall and the House of Commons were also flooded, as were the London Underground stations and lines along the riverside. The moat at the Tower of London, which had been empty for over 80 years, was refilled by the river, and the Blackwall and Rotherhithe Tunnels were submerged. Other buildings that flooded were Lots Road Power Station and Wandsworth Gas Works. The ""Manchester Guardian"" described the scene on the morning"
"killed, and again in August with 1,075 dead. During the night of 25 August, British bombers raided targets in and around Greater Berlin for the first time, in response to the accidental bombing of Oxford Street and the West End by the Luftwaffe while it was bombing the London docks. On 4 September 1940 Hitler, frustrated by the RAF's superiority over the Luftwaffe and enraged by its bombing of German cities, decided to retaliate by bombing London and other cities in the UK. On 7 September the Luftwaffe began massed attacks on London. The bombing campaign was known in the"
"1½d for . Of those who purchased and ate the sweets, 21 people died with a further 200 or so becoming severely ill with arsenic poisoning within a day or so. Originally the first deaths—those of two children—were thought to be owing to cholera, a major problem in Britain at the time; but the growing number of casualties soon showed that the purchase of lozenges from Hardaker's stall was the cause, and from there the trail led to Neal and Hodgson. Goddard was arrested and stood before magistrates in the court house in Bradford on 1 November with Hodgson and"
"the streets and contributed animal droppings, rotting fluids and other contaminants to the primitive Soho sewer system. Many cellars had cesspools underneath their floorboards, which formed from the sewers and filth seeping in from the outside. Since the cesspools were overrunning, the London government decided to dump the waste into the River Thames, contaminating the water supply. London had already suffered from a ""series of debilitating cholera outbreaks"". These included outbreaks in 1832 and 1849 which killed a total of 14,137 people. Preceding the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak, physicians and scientists held two competing theories on the causes of"
"began in 1846 and lasted until 1860. It hit Russia hardest, with over one million deaths. In 1846, cholera struck Mecca, killing over 15,000. A two-year outbreak began in England and Wales in 1848, and claimed 52,000 lives. In 1849, outbreak occurred again in Paris, and in London, killing 14,137, over twice as many as the 1832 outbreak. Cholera hit Ireland in 1849 and killed many of the Irish Famine survivors, already weakened by starvation and fever. In 1849, cholera claimed 5,308 lives in the major port city of Liverpool, England, an embarkation point for immigrants to North America, and"
"The 7 July 2005 London bombings (often referred to as 7/7) were a series of coordinated suicide bomb attacks in central London which targeted civilians using the public transport system during the morning rush hour. On the morning of Thursday, 7 July 2005, four Islamist extremists separately detonated three bombs in quick succession aboard London Underground trains across the city and, later, a fourth on a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square. Fifty-two civilians were killed and over 700 more were injured in the attacks. Later a dozen unexploded bombs were found in a car located in North London. 3 out"
"by the fedayeen, the British force attacked the Egyptian police barracks in Ismailia. Fifty Egyptian police officers were killed and one hundred were wounded. Egypt erupted in fury. Subsequently, Free Officer Movement cells initiated riots in Cairo which led to arsons. Without suppression from local fire brigades, these arson attacks further inflamed more rioting. American and Soviet newspapers promoted the incident on global wire outlets as the ""Cairo Fires"" and suggested they were seen as further evidence of the beginning of the end of the monarchy. The next day, January 26, 1952 (""Black Saturday""), what many Egyptians call ""the second"