A RIVER RUNS PUTRID: A SUMMER OF FILTH, 1858

The city of London sweltered in the heat of summer, 1858. But it was not merely the sun that parched the metropolis. An even more detestable force infested its very heart: the River Thames. Years of industrial effluents had transformed London's lifeblood into a nauseating odor. The stench was all-consuming, a miasma that clung to every cobblestone

On a blustery afternoon in the year, disaster befell Boston. A massive holding filled with sticky, sweet molasses gave way sending a torrent of the thick liquid rushing through the streets. The power was catastrophic, crushing buildings and entombing residents in a gooey soup. Dozens of people were lost their lives, and many more suffered. Author