On this day, 26 July 1963, military scientists released harmful bacteria on the London Underground as part of a secret biological warfare experiment. Researchers based at the infamous Porton Down laboratory secreted Bacillus globigii bacteria in a container disguised as a make-up compact and released it at Colliers Wood station. Their intention was to monitor how far a biological agent like anthrax could travel through the ventilation system in a potential attack. While Bacillus globigii was considered harmless at the time, it was subsequently labelled a pathogen, and can cause infections and in extreme cases, death. It was just one of over 750 secret experiments by the British government using biological or chemical agents on unsuspecting members of the public. In some cases, deadly pathogens like anthrax were released in uninhabited areas like Gruinard island in Scotland, leaving it uninhabitable for decades.
Pictured: a protest against biological warfare experiments at Porton Down, 1963
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