Thousands of Londoners died because of smog. But at first the authorities tried to pin the blame on viruses!

On 5th December 1952, the average resident of London had to rub their eyes in disbelief. Yes, they were used to the proverbial London fog. And they knew what smog was; as early as the 19th century dirty clouds of it had been described, so thick and yellow that Londoners compared it to pea soup. It stank of gas from pipes, odours from docks and shipyards, smoke from factories, fumes from paint factories, breweries, laundries and bakeries. But even knowing all of this, they could still be shocked. What was happening exceeded human comprehension. In the nasty yellowish clouds, London’s bridges disappeared, along with Nelson’s Column and Big Ben. The smog got into buildings. Even into cinemas, where screenings were called off because the audience couldn’t see the screen.