Before the industrial Revolution, the average European town was overcrowded, filled with waste, and festering with disease. Lack of knowledge and poor urban planning resulted extremely dirty towns and an overwhelming percentage of sick citizens. The citizens of pre-industrial cities suffered from disease after disease, such as the London cholera outbreak of 1831. Contaminated water led to the spreading of diseases such as typhoid, animals roaming towns spread diseases like typhus, and population density led to diseases like tuberculosis (TB). Between 1800 and 1850, it is estimated that 1/3 of the deaths in England were caused by TB. However, the industrial Revolution brought about a gain of knowledge in the area of disease prevention, all starting in the 1860's with Louis Pasteur's discovery of Germ Theory. Other breakthroughs in knowledge and urban planning like Lister's antiseptic principle and Edwin Chadwick's city reformation led to substantial decreases in disease-related deaths, and an overall healthier population. From the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, European death tolls almost cut in half. By the 19th century, an increased understanding of disease and its causes, and smarter urban planning led an overall happier and healthier European city population.
*Left Image- Louis Pasteur- http://www.fullissue.com/index.php/louis-pasteur-biography-1822%E2%80%931895.html
Right Image- http://moodle.montclairkimberley.org/mod/resource/view.php?id=99291
