The Great Stink: How a Horrific Smell Changed London Forever

Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More

Gary Arndt

History, Education

4.7 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 24 March 2026

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the summer of 1858, London was brought to a standstill by something you couldn’t see but definitely couldn’t ignore: the overwhelming stench of the River Thames. The event, known as the Great Stink, wasn’t just unpleasant. It forced a modern city to confront a growing crisis of sanitation, public health, and urban planning. What happened that summer would reshape one of the world’s greatest cities and change how we think about infrastructure forever. Learn more about the smell that changed history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Mint Mobile Save 50% on Unlimited premium wireless plans starting at $15/month at MintMobile.com/EED Audible Listen to Project Hail Mary Audible.com/hailmary Fast Growing Trees Get 20% off your first purchase when using the code DAILY at checkout at fastgrowingtrees.com/daily Get your choice between chicken breast or top sirloin for a year OR ground beef for life, PLUS $20 off when you go to ButcherBox.com/everything Subscribe to the podcast! https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Discord Server: https://discord.gg/Ds7Rx7jvPJ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/ Disce aliquid novi cotidie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	In the summer of 1858, London was brought to a standstill by something you couldn't see but definitely couldn't ignore, the overwhelming stench of the River Thames.
0:10.6	The event known as the Great Stink wasn't just unpleasant. It forced a modern city to confront a growing crisis of sanitation, public health, and urban planning.
0:19.7	What happened that summer would reshape one of the world's greatest cities and change how we think about
0:24.2	infrastructure forever.
0:26.3	Learn more about the great stink of 1858 and the smell that changed history on this episode
0:31.6	of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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