Tag: Great Smog of London

What City Is Called the Big Smoke? The Real Story Behind the Nickname

What City Is Called the Big Smoke? The Real Story Behind the Nickname

The nickname 'the Big Smoke' originally referred to London's deadly coal smoke pollution in the 19th and 20th centuries. Though Toronto and other cities were also called that, London's Great Smog of 1952 made the term iconic-and led to the Clean Air Act that changed urban life forever.