Great Smog of London
December 5, 1952
A cold anticyclone trapped coal smoke over London for five days. Visibility dropped to a few feet; buses crept behind men with lanterns. Perhaps twelve thousand Londoners died of respiratory failure, more than anyone realized at the time. The disaster prompted the Clean Air Act of 1956 and began the modern regulation of air pollution.
In context
Also in 1952 (3 other events on record)
- First hydrogen bomb test · Oceania · War
- Elizabeth II ascends the British throne · Europe · Politics
- Nasser's Free Officers seize Egypt · Middle East · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Disaster
Era
Modern Era (1901–2000), one of 590 events from that era on Saeculum.