Sami's History Revision Corner

With my final exams looming and revision for all subjects becoming fairly essential, I've been struggling to come up with an effective way of recounting two years worth of a history GCSE course. That was until today when, in a common moment of genius, I thought there would be no better way to teach myself what I need to know than by teaching you lot.*

The cunning plan is that I will envisage the GT community as my target audience and, over the next few weeks, will give the complete low-down on the course (well maybe not all of it). This will include interesting and educational information on:

1) Medicine Through Time
2) Britain 1815 - 1851

So get yourselves prepared for a regularly updated roller-coaster ride of knowledge that will increase your brain capacity now end and might just help me remember all the stuff I need to write about in the exams.

Maybe there will be a test at the end good luck!

*It is not compulsory to pay any attention whatsoever to this thread. Just don't tell me that so this whole pointless exercise benefits me in some way. Ta!

I like it! I'm going to have to find some way of using internet GAA forums to my advantage next year when I'm doing my Junior Cert otherwise I'll probably just fail everything..

Thank god I have 2 years until my GCSEs haha

Welcome one and all to lesson number one, the focus of which is "Public Health" - a key section in our Medicine Through Time module.

"Public Health" is exactly what the name suggests. It is the term given to the conditions of public concepts, areas and facilities linked to health and hygiene. This can consist of anything from the cleanliness of streets in towns to the efficiency of a sewerage system.

The first and most important thing to remember when it comes to writing or typing about public health is to always ensure you put the "l" in "public" - otherwise it could be taken the wrong way and things would get rather hairy.

As with every section of Medicine Through Time, we begin with the Ancient Egyptians, before visiting Ancient Greece. We then take a look at the Romans before hitting medieval times and finally the 19th and 20th centuries.

Egypt and Greece

Because knowledge of the causes disease was pretty shabby in Ancient Egyptian and Greek times, there was no real emphasis on public health. Much like good songs in GAA-Fan's "Desert Island Discs" selection, public health facilities were more or less non existent.

This being said, the Egyptians did believe it was important to keep clean, however this had more to do with religion and comfort than health. The lads and lassies in Egypt also used mosquito nets but, again, only for comfort - they had no idea that mosquitoes carried malaria. There is also some evidence of Egyptians shaving their heads. As well as making them look like north African Ross Kemps, this contributed to good health.

A bit of time later in Greece we know (thrillingly) that they changed their clothes regularly. The Greeks also claim to have apparently invented some sort of glorified sports day called "The Olympic Games." All this running around probably made them a bit healthier too.

It should be noted that in Ancient Egypt and Greece the rich had considerably better living conditions than the poor (what's changed?) and so usually lived a little longer in their luxury.

The Romans

As far as public health is concerned, things do get rather a lot better during Roman times. The Roman chaps were a hell of a lot more organised than those before them and they had a whole range of useful things set up across their sizeable empire.

A few important things about the way Romans did things related to public health are:

1. They cared about their army (unlike today's British politicians). Therefore, the army got some nifty health facilities. If you were lucky enough to be nearby a section of troops (the army was pretty much everywhere, like Man United fans) then you too would get a slice of the Roman Public Health pie.

2. The Romans thought being clean and healthy was cool. Good hygiene was part of a good lifestyle in Roman times. Romans would get no end of street-cred for keeping themselves scrubbed up and visiting the baths every morning.

3. They liked everything to be the same. When it came to their Empire, the Romans seemed to have a touch of OCD. The liked all the places in their Empire from north Africa to some far-flung corner of miserable northern England to be just as excellent as Rome. Subsequently, if Rome got some posh new toilets then the far-flung corner of miserable northern England would get some too.

4. THE GOVERNMENT COLLECTED TAXES This is the most important one. The Roman government collected taxes from their citizens. This created a supply of cash available to build public facilities for everyone.

Ergo, this allowed the Roman Empire's public health credentials to extend to:

- Toilets! Romans built themselves revolutionary 'latrines' with seats and drainage. There were even plenty of public latrines if you felt sociable. Unfortunately, toilet paper was still beyond them and a trusty sponge on a stick was relied upon.

- Aqueducts! The Romans constructed these intelligent bridge-like structures to carry a supply of fresh water to their cities.

- Sewerage! Sewers were built to carry unsightly waste away from private houses and public latrines. This prevented smells and large heaps of poo - the waste was instead deposited in rivers.

- Public baths! These were a great favourite amongst the Romans. Public baths were open to all to go along and scrub up and feel healthy. They helped get rid of disease-spreading fleas (not another reference to Man United fans). These baths proved so popular they decided to name a British town after them... - Milton Keynes.

- Doctors! Romans had the opportunity to go and see a doctor if they felt a bit peaky. These nice chaps gave advice about healthy eating, hygiene and exercise.

- In the army! The Roman army forts had their own bath houses, water supplies and even a quiet hospital in order to keep soldiers fit.

Still not perfect though? Correct. Despite a superb amount of progress, much like the Dublin hurling team, the Romans still had a long way to go. Whilst these public health facilities helped, there was still no idea about germs and how disease was caused. Toilets built near kitchens, sewage pits and other elementary mistakes were made.

Medieval

Things go downhill from here...fast. The Romans naffed off from Britain leaving all their brilliant public health facilities behind them - presumably as some sort of leaving gift. The people of Britain at this time - a lot of travelling tribes, Viking invaders and the like - proved themselves completely inept at continuing the Roman public health legacy and so all the latrines and baths and aqueducts and sewers fell into disrepair.

England entered The Dark Ages and remained utterly clueless about public health and the causes of disease, just like Rafa Benitez and running a football team. With no consistent government and no money (they'd given up with such taxes) public health became a shambles.

Towns became similar to what Hull is like today - full of litter, sewage, dirty water and waste. Nobody could really bothered to do anything about it until epidemic disasters such as The Black Death in 1348 prompted a clean up.

As the years went by, efforts to improve public health did start occurring. In London they set up a whole load of rules for people to break. These included restrictions on butchers allowing blood to flow in the street. Urinating in the street was also prohibited (Jayo). The medieval equivalent of bin men 'the rakers' were employed to clean the streets. In 1665 the Mayor of London ordered a large scale clean-up in response to an outbreak of plague. It seems a shame after all their efforts that London burnt down the in 1666. On a side note, the fire did kill an awful lot of plague-ridden rats (not another Man United fan reference either).

The popular (and completely incorrect) medieval theory on the cause of disease was called miasma. This was the idea that disease was caused by bad smells in the air. It was wrong, but it made people clean up, which did reduce disease. Unfortunately, as outlined above, they were a bit lazy and unorganised so not nearly enough public health work was done.

The 19th Century

Crikey, the 1800s are a long way from the middle ages - surely public health has got better by now?! Wrong. If anything public health has got worse: towns went from being like Hull to being like...well, East Hull.

The industrial revolution (more about that in our other module) had encouraged loads of folk to move to cities to find jobs. This influx of people led to no end of irritating public health problems such as:

- Overcrowding
- Poorly ventilated housing (just crap housing in general really)
- Disease (cholera was a particular favourite)
- Dirt (people didn't understand the concept of bins. Mainly because they didn't have any)
- Poverty

This was clearly a problem, but in another case of common laziness nobody bothered doing anything about it. That's maybe not entirely the case, there are a few more excuses:

Public health was the responsibility of the local councils. These councils were made up solely of wealthy bigwigs who had no interest in spending their time or their money on solving the problems of the scummy poor in their overcrowded, poorly ventilated houses.

The government didn't force the councils to do anything. The government liked to kiss the backsides of rich people because they relied on them to give them votes. (At this time, the poor were not considered worthy of a ballot).

Don't worry! Things did improve, eventually.

Much of this was down to two chaps by the name of Edwin Chadwick and John Snow.

Chadwick
In 1842 Edwin Chadwick published a report on public health which he gave the ridiculously lengthy title "Report on The Sanitary Conditions of The Labouring Population." Edwin's report made it quite clear that public health wasn't up to much and the government finally decided to take some action. They passed the non-compulsory 1848 Public Health Act.

This proved fairly useless. It was non-compulsory, so the local councils still weren't forced to do anything. Most of them duly did not. But the first step had been made.

Chadwick continued his wonderful work. He DID NOT go and open Chadwick's Yard to sell tractors in Clonmel.

Snow
John Snow made a HUGE discovery in 1854. Using evidence from the now-infamous Broad Street pump he proved that contaminated water spread cholera. Cholera epidemics in 1831, 1847, 1854 and 1865 sent the country into panic. After Snow's discovery better water supplies were installed and an engineering triumph of a sewerage system was built beneath London.

--------------------------------------

A French lad by the name of Louis Pasteur had also been doing a spot of scientific work in the 19th-century and had come up with something called 'The Germ Theory'. THE REAL CAUSE OF DISEASE HAD FINALLY BEEN FOUND.

Armed with some actual scientific fact the government could set about improving public health properly and they passed a second Public Health Act in 1875. This one WAS compulsory and demanded the provision of clean water along with proper sewerage and drainage. Public Health was finally getting better.

Anything else help?

Yes. Along with the work of the individuals mentioned above and the outbreaks of cholera which spurred the government into action, there were a few other factors which helped bring about public health improvements.

In the summer of 1858 the "Great Stink" hit Westminster. This was not caused by the Tories eating too many baked beans, but a hot summer that had resulted in the water level of the River Thames dropping and all the rubbish that London dumped in it began to whiff a bit. The smell got so bad that Parliament had to be closed for the day. MPs realised something needed to be done.

Another notable influence on the government came in 1867 when working class men received the right to vote. Now, however much they didn't want to, the government had to take the views of common people into account.

So, problem eventually solved? Yes and no. By 1900 public health hygiene problems had been pretty much sorted in Britain - but the issue of poverty and physical health amongst the working classes still needed attention.

The 20th Century

This leads us nicely to the 1900s where public health improvements had picked up and things were getting better at a speedy rate.

The Liberal Party came to power in 1906 and introduced some important public health reforms. They got schools to provide medical care and checks in 1907 - they are therefore responsible for the dreaded nit nurse. They did, however, also provide free milk in schools so we'll let them off for the nurse.

In 1909 the Libs banned back to back housing meaning the poverty issue was improved. More improvements were made in 1911 when National Health Insurance was introduced.

A couple more of those 'important individuals' blokes popped up in the 20th century. This included Seebohm Rowntree who raised wages to ensure his employees in the great and mighty city of York did not live in poverty. He made Fruit Pastilles and Kit Kats as well, thus increasing general happiness.

Charles Booth's study of poverty put pressure on the government to introduce an old age pension, which they did in 1908. Good lad.

The 20th century was, of course, marred by two world wars. As a result of these more public health improvements were made. The 1919 housing act was passed to ensure "homes fit for heroes" and provided over 250 000 good working class homes.

After WWII, in 1948, the National Health Service was established in order to provide free GPs, vaccinations, hospital treatment, ambulances and crazily long waiting lists for all.

The British Medical Association got a bit moody when the NHS was set up because the doctors had got used to getting their own way and making lots of money. Wealthy tax payers and local authorities weren't too happy either. Luckily, their complaints were ignored and the NHS went on to revolutionize public health right up until the present day (with a few hitches such as cost issues and MRSA).

So next time you go to receive your free health care, remember how far this so-called "public health" has come in the last few thousand years.

Lesson 1 concludes, wishing the best of health to all.

Sami

Im sure its all good stuff but have you an Exec Summary

OMAR wrote:Sami

Im sure its all good stuff but have you an Exec Summary

explain...

SamiPremier08 wrote:

OMAR wrote:Sami

Im sure its all good stuff but have you an Exec Summary

explain...

My problem not yours sami - I suffer from an attention span difficiency disorder. "goldfish Syndrome" by the time I get to the sixth or seventh line of any written article I have forgot the start. Hence why I stick to tabloids and why I never start reading something that I know I can't finish.

OMAR wrote:

SamiPremier08 wrote:

OMAR wrote:Sami

Im sure its all good stuff but have you an Exec Summary

explain...

My problem not yours sami - I suffer from an attention span difficiency disorder. "goldfish Syndrome" by the time I get to the sixth or seventh line of any written article I have forgot the start. Hence why I stick to tabloids and why I never start reading something that I know I can't finish.

ah ok then - you miss out my friend!

SamiPremier08 wrote:

OMAR wrote:

SamiPremier08 wrote:

OMAR wrote:Sami

Im sure its all good stuff but have you an Exec Summary

explain...

My problem not yours sami - I suffer from an attention span difficiency disorder. "goldfish Syndrome" by the time I get to the sixth or seventh line of any written article I have forgot the start. Hence why I stick to tabloids and why I never start reading something that I know I can't finish.

ah ok then - you miss out my friend!

i'm with OMAR on this one - if i could care less i would!!!!!!!!

I agree totally. But the good thing is by writing that I've completely revised a whole section of history in one evening. Top stuff

I keep getting these nagging worries that what I'm posting here is somehow against examination rules. I have no idea why

Really Sami, who on here is going to report you?

RoyalGirl wrote:Really Sami, who on here is going to report you?

nobody. and I'm sure it's perfectly in order. It must be my paranoid nature.

SamiPremier08 wrote:

RoyalGirl wrote:Really Sami, who on here is going to report you?

nobody. and I'm sure it's perfectly in order. It must be my paranoid nature.

Ah yeah you'd just be helping someone else study for their GCSEs.

RoyalGirl wrote:

SamiPremier08 wrote:

RoyalGirl wrote:Really Sami, who on here is going to report you?

nobody. and I'm sure it's perfectly in order. It must be my paranoid nature.

Ah yeah you'd just be helping someone else study for their GCSEs.

aye. Think I might not write any more to post it worked well but no need to post any more relaly

Doubt many people read it. Rather long.

RoyalGirl wrote:Doubt many people read it. Rather long.

didn't expect them to in fairness

SamiPremier08 wrote:

RoyalGirl wrote:Doubt many people read it. Rather long.

didn't expect them to in fairness

Ehh well if I ever need to know about the Romans I know where I'll go..

RoyalGirl wrote:Really Sami, who on here is going to report you?

Me for a start. Head the ball - or should that be Spammy Premier. Take your GCSE A level O level or whatever and get out of Tipster town. Jaysus if we're not finding your sliothars we're doing your exams! Next thing I'll log on here and Pocklington Hospital Radio for the Ever So Slightly Insane will come blaring out of me PC!

Go get that Laura one's facebook address and post your Simon Schama stuff there. We have had enough of Brit history here to last a good while. Medical history? I don't even want to know my own.

First warning .....

SamiPremier08 wrote:
I keep getting these nagging worries that what I'm posting here is somehow against examination rules. I have no idea why

Sami in "Exam shock expose" headlines....You're possibly transgressing again young man.

But as they are only "nagging worries" you are allowed the benefit of the doubt under Irish laws. When you see Charlie Bird from RTE sitting on your wall some morning as you look out your bathroom window while "straining the spuds" and a couple of TV vans down the road, well then it's time to swap "nagging" for "very real".

Jayo Cluxton wrote:

RoyalGirl wrote:Really Sami, who on here is going to report you?

Me for a start. Head the ball - or should that be Spammy Premier. Take your GCSE A level O level or whatever and get out of Tipster town. Jaysus if we're not finding your sliothars we're doing your exams! Next thing I'll log on here and Pocklington Hospital Radio for the Ever So Slightly Insane will come blaring out of me PC!

Go get that Laura one's facebook address and post your Simon Schama stuff there. We have had enough of Brit history here to last a good while. Medical history? I don't even want to know my own.

First warning .....