The worst jobs in history

Some point to the medieval guilds as the origin of workers comp; others see the emergence of workers comp as a response to the industrial revolution when dangerous factory jobs grew more prevalent. But the truth is, hard working laborers have been battling dangerous and unpleasant work conditions from time immemorial. The Worst Jobs in History is a journey through 2,000 years of British history and the worst jobs of each era. It is an alternately amusing and horrifying look back at the types of jobs our forebears held, and a description of the work conditions they faced. So if you ever wondered what it would be like to be a Medieval fuller or leech collector, a Tudor woad dyer or groom of the stool, a Stuart nit-picker or plague burier, or a Victorian rat catcher - now's your chance to find out. You can even take a skills assessment quiz to see which jobs might be best suit you. Jobs for women were relatively scarce - so if I had a career, it is likely I might have been a wise woman or a fish wife … lovely!

The site is an offshoot of a popular series that ran on British TV, and it makes for an amusing look back. But the harsh reality behind the history is indeed grim. Unfortunately, you don’t have to look to Anglo-Saxon or medieval days to find such terrible work conditions -- many horrifyingly dangerous conditions still exist today right in our own backyards.