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Dr John Snow - proving a theory

60 second histories

This video covers:  How Dr John Snow went about proving his theory on how Cholera was spread.

My theory of how cholera was being spread in London is straightforward. It is my opinion that cesspools near town wells and sewage dumped into rivers contaminate the water supply. This then leads to a rapid spread of the disease. It was in August eighteen fifty-four when the suburb of London known as Soho was hit very hard by an outbreak of cholera. Well, living close to Soho, I immediately went to work to try to prove it was contaminated water that caused the outbreak. Within five hundred yards of the spot where Cambridge Street joins Broad Street there had been upwards of five hundred fatal attacks of cholera in just ten days. As I became acquainted with the situation I suspected some contamination of the water from the much-frequented street pump in Broad Street. I literally worked around the clock to track down information from hospitals and public records to find out whether the victims drank water from the Broad Street pump.
Eras: 
Medicine & Health
Victorian Reformers
Victorian
Topics: 
Key people
Victorian Reformers
Medicine & health
Character: 
Dr John Snow
Key words: 
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