Starting in 1819, a series of cholera pandemics spread the disease from the Ganges in India to the rest of the world, killing millions of people. In 1854, 23,000 died from the disease in the UK.

While cholera may have been killing people as far back as 400 B.C., it didn't start affecting the Americas until the second cholera pandemic began in 1829. Numerous other cholera pandemics ...