LONDON'S RIVER TURNED MURKY: 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 unpleasant force infested its very heart: the River Thames. Years of industrial discharges had transformed London's lifeblood into a nauseating odor. The stench was oppressive, a miasma that clung to every cobblestone an

The year eight hundred forty-five AD. A chill wind swept across the Seine River, carrying with it the scent of salt and fear. The Norsemen were upon us, a ravenous swarm of warriors seeking riches. Their longships, like prowling predators, sliced through the waters, their flags waving in the wind. A city once confident now trembled beneath the shad