Snow in Soho in Summer as Scientists Celebrate 150th Anniversary of Dr John Snow

17th June 2008

Dr Brian Iddon MP yesterday raised a glass of clean water in commemoration of the 150 years since the death of pioneering scientist Dr John Snow. The event, which was organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry, was held at the John Snow pub by the famous pump in Broadwick Street. The event was attended by descendents of John Snow, members of the John Snow Society and as many people with the name of John Snow as the organisers could find.

Secretary of State the Rt Hon Alan Johnson unveiled a special chemical landmark blue plaque at the event. The blue plaque will be displayed outside the pub in Broadwick Street.

In 1854 Dr John Snow discovered that cholera was a waterborne virus, previously it was thought that cholera was spread through the air. In August 1854 a cholera outbreak occurred in Soho. After careful investigation, involving plotting the cases of cholera on a map of the area, Dr Snow was able to identify the source of the disease as a water pump in Broad Street (now Broadwick Street). He had the handle of the pump removed and cases of cholera began to decline immediately.    

Speaking at the event Alan Johnson said,

“I am really pleased to be here today to commemorate the work of Dr John Snow. His is a shining example of the important science plays in our daily lives. However it is also important to remember that over 150 years on from Dr Snow’s discovery still over a billion people across the world have no access to safe drinking water.”

Dr Iddon said,

“It’s unusual to see so much snow in Soho in the summer but this was an excellent way to celebrate the work of Dr John Snow. He was an important scientist whose work has positively affected billions of people’s lives, yet he is little known outside the scientific community. I have tabled an early day motion to draw Parliaments’ attention to his work and hope to follow up on this with a debate about water safety.”

Dr Iddon is pictured here with Stephen Benn from the Royal Society of Chemistry, his parliamentary researcher Gemma Reay and the blue plaque commemorating Dr John Snow at the John Snow pub in Soho.

1. Dr Brian Iddon tabled EDM 1800 “150^th Anniversary of the Death of Dr John Snow” for more details please see here http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=36104&SESSION=891

2. The event was organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry and supported by the charity Wateraid. For further information about these organisations please visit http://www.rsc.org/ or http://www.wateraid.org/uk/default.asp

3. In addition to his pioneering work in epidemiology, Dr John Snow also worked in anaesthetics. In 1853 he administered chloroform to Queen Victoria during the birth of her 8^th child. For more information about the work of Dr John Snow, please visit http://www.johnsnowsociety.org/