Main Idea Quiz 1

The Thames River stank, the air was filled with a "disease odor," as Londoners called it, and soot clung to ladies' dresses. London grew so polluted that, by royal decree, the use of sea-coal was forbidden. The government went so far as to empower a council to prosecute those who did not obey the ban. The council handed out fines for the first offense and destroyed furnaces after the second. It is believed that at least one lawbreaker was put to death for "fouling His Majesty's air." Clearly, London law officials in the 1300's were concerned about pollution.

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