London had long been known for its fogs, including occasional
“Great Stinking Fogs,” as one seventeenth-century
astronomer called them in his weather records. There was,
though, a marked increase in the frequency of London fogs
between 1750 and 1890. Natural climate fluctuations could
have contributed to the increase, but inevitably so did the
smoke. The city could barely be seen from above, such as from
the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Lord Byron described the
London skyline as “a wilderness of steeples peeping on tiptoe
through their sea-coal canopy.” Smoke was such a quintessential
part of London that for a long time the city held the nickname
“The Big Smoke.”
“Great Stinking Fogs,” as one seventeenth-century
astronomer called them in his weather records. There was,
though, a marked increase in the frequency of London fogs
between 1750 and 1890. Natural climate fluctuations could
have contributed to the increase, but inevitably so did the
smoke. The city could barely be seen from above, such as from
the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Lord Byron described the
London skyline as “a wilderness of steeples peeping on tiptoe
through their sea-coal canopy.” Smoke was such a quintessential
part of London that for a long time the city held the nickname
“The Big Smoke.”
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