By the late 18th century, Britain was seeing the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution, a process that eventually led to a huge migration of people to industrial cities, with widespread overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions. Drinking water was often contaminated with raw sewage, rubbish rotted in the streets, and crowded living conditions meant disease could easily spread. As many as one in five children died before their second birthday.
EDWARD JENNER AND VACCINATION
In 1752, an act was passed in Britain allowing the bodies of murderers to be used for dissection, as shown in this engraving by William Hogarth
GETTY IMAGES X4, ALAMY X1