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US Congress funds Public Health Service study
US Congress funds two-year Public Health Service study on air pollution from cars. -
Period: to
Environmental History
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First Clean Water ACt
First Clean Water Act passes US Congress. -
Nuclear Reactor explodes
Three operators are killed when a small experimental nuclear reactor explodes in Arco, Idaho -
Ohio cancels deer hunting season
Ohio canceled the deer hunting season due to a scarcity of deer, leading to the adoption nationwide of "buck laws," which promote the hunting of bucks only. -
New ammendments to food drugs and cosmetics
Amendments to the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act say that drugs need to be effective as well as safe. The U.S. largely avoided the thalidomide birth defects disaster (in Europe) because the FDA did not approve the anti-nausea drug for sale to pregnant women in the U.S. -
Whit House conservation conference
White House Conservation Conference held -
Senate passes clean air act
Senate Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution created. US Congress passes Clean Air Act with $95 million for study and cleanup efforts at local, state and federal level. See former Sen. Edmund S. Muskie's article, "The Clean Air Act: A Commitment to Public Health." -
Nucear tests are banned above ground
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty between U.S. and U.S.S.R. (Russia) stops above ground tests of nuclear weapons. -
Hazel Henderson organizes Citizens for Clean Air
Hazel Henderson organizes Citizens for Clean Air in New York. -
Congress creates national wilderness preservation
Congress creates National Wilderness Preservation System "to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness." The system initially contained 9.1 million acres of wild lands, but by 2001 there were about 90 million acres of wilderness preserved in the United States. Text of the Act is available from Wilderness System web page. A history is also available from the Wilderness Society. -
Congress passes Solid Waste Disposal Act
Congress passes Water Quality Act, Noise Control Act and Solid Waste Disposal Act. -
Weather inversion creates 4 day pollution incident
Weather inversion creates four day air pollution incident in New York City; 80 die. -
Sierra Club publishes an appeal to stop the building of a dam
Sierra Club publishes appeals in the New York Times and Washington Post to stop building a dam that would flood the Grand Canyon. The following day (perhaps coincidentally?), the IRS notifies the Sierra Club that it has suspended its tax-exempt status. The ad said simply, "This time it's the Grand Canyon they want to flood. The Grand Canyon." -
Life Magazine exposes conditions of impounded animals
Life magazine expose of conditions at facilities that sold impounded dogs and cats to research produces public outrage and leads to the passage of the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act, expanded into the present Animal Welfare Act in 1971. (M. Clifton) -
Outer Space treaty is signed
Outer Space Treaty is signed to prohibit placement of nuclear weapons in orbit around Earth -
Environmental defense fund is established
Environmental Defense Fund established. -
Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated
Martin Luther King assassinated supporting Memphis TN sanitation workers strike. for environmental and economic justice. -
Redwood national park established
Redwood National Park established in California. -
Santa Barbara oil well blowout
Santa Barbara oil well blowout off the Santa Barbara coast of California spills 235,000 gallons of oil and covers 30 miles of beach with tar. Well is capped Feb. 8. -
Federal Coal Mine Safety Act passed
Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act passed.
