The city of London sought in the heat of summer, 1858. But it was not merely the sun that parched the metropolis. An even more repellent force infested its very heart: the River Thames. Years of industrial effluents had transformed London's lifeblood into a foul-smelling mire. The stench was all-consuming, a miasma that clung to every cobblestone a

On a blustery morning in the year, disaster struck Boston. A massive reservoir filled with sticky, sweet molasses burst sending a tidal wave of the thick liquid flowing through the streets. The force was catastrophic, flattening buildings and burying people in a sticky soup. Scores of people were killed, and many more suffered. Authorities faced