-
In Ben Franklin's will he wanted the construction of a fresh water pipeline for Philadelphia, which led to the formation of the Philadelphia Water Commission.
-
Thoreau decided to build a cabin by Walden Pond. During his time at the cabin he wrote a book. His goal was to discover everything he can about human nature.
-
English naturalist Charles Darwin published his book "On the Origin of Species" which details and introduced his theories of evolution and natural selection. This transformed the understanding people thought they had of the natural world back then. -
The term ecology was coined in German as Oekologie by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel
-
He coined the term when he made the connection between the industrial pollution so rampant in the city at the time, and the acidity of the city's rainfall.
-
The term smog is coined by Henry Antoine Des Voeux in a London meeting to express concern over air pollution
-
President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service, a new federal bureau in the Department of the Interior responsible for protecting the 35 national parks and monuments then managed by the department and those yet to be established
-
Rachel Carson was an American marine biologist and conversationalist who, in her book "Silent Spring", exposed the negative effects DDT, a chemical compound that was used in hairspray, had on the environment. This kick-started the environmental movement leading to more people wanting to help the earth. -
often credited for propelling the environmental movement that led to the first Earth Day in 1970.
-
The Cuyahoga River in Ohio was so polluted that it caught fire. The fire was caused by floating pieces of oil slicked debris that were ignited by sparks caused by a passing train and started around 12:00pm that day. This fire brought national attention to water pollution issues and was one of the events that led to the creation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency. -
United States president at the time, Richard Nixon, signed the bill creating the environmental law that promotes the enhancement of the environment and established the President's Council on Environmental Quality. -
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act was enacted in 1972 to restore and maintain clean and healthy waters. This was a response to increasing public concern for the environment and for the condition of the nation's waters. -
The EPA created new regulations to ban federal agencies from granting contracts, loans, and or grants to plants and facilities that violate the Clean Air Act or Water Pollution Control Act. -
In Warren County, North Carolina a PCB landfill protest was held to enact the Environmental Justice movement that would grant the fair treatment and involvement of all people, regardless of race or income, in decisions on development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental policies. -
Three scientists from the British Antarctic Survey announce their detection of a 7.3 million–square-mile hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica. -
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, in Ukraine. At midnight a reactor in the power plant exploded, emitting large quantities of radioactive material into the air. -
After years of population decline during the 1950s and 1960s, caused by the use of pesticides, and DDT residues that accumulated in fish, a major food source of eagles. The American bald eagle is removed from the endangered species list after more than 10,000 nesting pairs are observed in the lower 48 states.