In 1858, London's sewers emptied straight into the River Thames in the city. That hot summer, the river stank. Parliament's riverside curtains were soaked in lime chloride, a bleaching chemical, to block the smell.
The stench pushed lawmakers to act. On 2 August, they funded a clean-up.
Engineer Joseph Bazalgette's new sewers carried the waste east, beyond the city, so it no longer poured into the river in town.