Pollution In The 19th Century

Pollution is not a new phenomenon. In fact, pollution has been a problem since the appearance of our earliest ancestors. Increasing human population have opened the door to more bacteria and disease. During the Middle Ages, diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever broke out all across Europe. These epidemics were directly related to unsanitary conditions caused by human and animal wastes, and garbage. In 1347, the bacterium Yersinia pestis, carried by rats and spread by fleas, caused the "Black Death" -- an outbreak of bubonic plague. Unsanitary conditions provided the perfect environment for the deadly bacteria to flourish.(NOAA, Nonpoint source pollution , A Brief history of pollution , paragraph 1)
By the 1800s, people began to be aware of their living conditions and the pollution of water that caused lots of diseases. So action had to be taken to fight against this epidemic. major cities like Chicago built the first major sewage system in the united states, and that was just the beginning since many U.S. cities followed Chicago's lead.
toward the end of the 19th century, industrialized cities across Europe and the United States witnessed a new kind of pollution which was caused by the waste of industries and factories. The rivers became polluted and diseases were spreading for there was lots metals and industrial chemicals being dumped in the rivers.
Water and air pollution was increasing massively in the U.S. towards the 20th century. For example the river of Cuyahoga In Cleveland was so polluted that the water burst into flames. It was in 1936 when the first fire occurred and it was caused by a spark from a blowtorch that ignited the debris and oils. The river caught fire several more times throughout the next 30