A History of Urban Poop

Dealing with human wastes was a huge problem in cities at the beginning of the 19th century. The ways in which sewage and sanitation were handled (or not) often led to large-scale outbreaks of disease that killed thousands of people every year, and sometimes even more bizarre and spectacular disasters like the Great Stink of London (1858) or the infamous SS Princess Alice sinking. By 1920, though, at least in North America and Western Europe, huge strides had been made to alleviate the poop problem. This video traces the development of sanitation technology and practices, the thinking that made them possible, and the stories of some of the people prominent in the history of urban poop. It's a smelly episode of environmental history, but may be more interesting than you might have thought at first!

Minor correction: at 38:55, I mention that the Palace of Westminster was completed in 1840; actually it was begun in that year (minor construction continued for many years after that).

Special thanks to Austin Pierce.

Chapters:
00:00-11:12: A Tale of Two Poos
11:12-25:18: Miasma
25:18-36:57: The Toilet Revolution
36:57-47:40: The Great Stink
47:40-1:05:51: Out of the Muck
1:05:51-1:15:03: Ladies and Germs
1:15:03-1:29:32: Blundering Toward Cleanliness
1:29:32-1:39:53: The Great Aerators
1:39:53-1:50:57: What Happened to Everyone & Conclusion

[erloriel]

Odd topic, but as someone who writes historical novels, I massively appreciate the "small" day-to-day history, especially when people go into obscene detail with it.

[deadbeef]

A 2 hour long Sean Munger video about poop is definitely not how I planned to spend my day off

[Chaz]

As a history obsessed nerd who was raised by a master plumber that had always boasted his trade saved more lives than doctors, I'm looking forward to this!

[jamisongillespie]

Sanitation is definitely an underrated topic that should be taught more. It represents a huge difference between our modern day life and the vast majority of human history, but is almost never considered.

[Dong_Harvey]

I am literally contributing to the history of urban poop as you speak!

[Raev]

Im proud to say I don't even find this topic silly or weird. I instantly clicked because hell yeah, that's a piece of significant history I'd love to hear about.

[historykzg]

I'm kinda proud of my job... i maintain a sewer system in one of Europe Capital City like 3 million citizens don't know what exactly we do...
It's sometime gross sometimes weird (when you pump out 3 tons [like 6000 pounds] of strawberries out of sewer system) and sometimes you can find valuable thinks in sewer sludge.

It's just cool to know that thanks to my and my colleagues that many peoples (for decades) just can wake up in middle of night go to toilet and just flush it down the sewer hassle free.

Thanks Sean, for video!

[HartleysFilms]

Sean, I can listen to you talk about pretty much anything. Not because of your delivery, which is generally good, but because I know that if Sean Munger is taking the time to make a video about it then it's worth listening to.

[Sam-leok]

Boy i was excited for this one! As a plumber i know full well people don’t appreciate what goes into sewage and sanitation. Much love from Colorado!

[burly_bob]

Every time im in need of some long form content Sean always has some good shit.

[wreaverfizzlefen]

Professional environmental engineer here, and one of the most lacking things in our standard coursework is the history of our profession. I knew nothing about John Snow (pun absolutely intended) until Extra History covered him and the beginning of the sanitation movement a few years back. Thank you for shining a light on our forebears!

[ethanhadler]

Wastewater operator here. Very cool video highlighting the field I work in

[Hardcopy]

Awesome video, thanks Sean! Many of us love to think about living 1-200 years ago and how 'glorious' it would have been, but these normal modern conveniences of just flushing our waste "away" are something we take for granted.

[Maryculligan]

As a nurse, this is great information to have. Amazed people survived centuries with bacteria challenges.

[nateums]

Even modern plumbing wouldn’t stand a chance versus 6 plates of oysters 😅😂

[denisbatista]

As someone with a History degree I'm really glad that i found your channel, today i listened to the Manson video while at work, this one was really interesting. Keep up the great work.

[tylerr]

The closing comment that you made about not using AI to make this video put a smile on my face. Thank you 🙂

[kevinblatter]

Thanks Sean. Anyone that has traveled outside of big cities in the 3rd world know how much of problem 'poop' still is.

[lydiagerson]

Informative and engaging. This is the most appealing aspect of YouTube for me--almost a college lecture while at home. I'm hooked.

[caplife]

Fascinating topic! The history of waste management is always overlooked but super important to the development of modern infrastructure.