historicall.y

The Great Stink For centuries, one of the most famous rivers in Europe became a dumping ground for all of London's waste. Of course this was the River Thames . As the population of London increased the amount of waste grew with it. This became too much for the river and by the 1600s people began to notice that the pollution of the city’s river was becoming a problem. However every one continued to dump rubbish and waste in the capital's largest river, with no idea how to fix the issue. When the 19th century arrived the problem had been much too long. So much waste had been dumped in the river that the Thames became the most contaminated and unhygienic river in the world! The horrible smell caused wealthy parts of society to move away from the Thames and for Parliament to move to Oxford. As result of the disgusting conditions of the river and the sewage system in general, water became very contaminated, and there were a sudden outbreaks of a nasty disease called...

Mourning Parents with dead daughter (center) To commemorate  the morbid occasion of the death of a loved one, or to remember the deceased, Victorians came up with the rather gruesome tradition of having photographs taken of the dead person either with or without the living family! This was especially popular with families with a recently dead children and babies. The photographer would arranged the body so it looked as alive as possible, but the added arrangements and sometimes even effects just seem to make the body look slightly more unsettling and disturbing! Sometimes photographers would use a contraption to prop up the corpse and occasionally, eyes and rosy cheeks were printed onto the image in a vain attempt to make them look more alive. Children would normally be photographed with their favourite toys and sometimes even siblings! The most pleasant and nicest looking images are the ones where the people are photographed to look asleep.  Sources: ~ MNN: 7 mos...