Important dates in women’s rights history

By Maleahtyson

  • Women couldn't own their own property

    The colonies adopt the English system decreeing women cannot own property in their own name or keep their own earnings.

  • Philadelphia committee

    Philadelphia committee led by Benjamin Franklin attempts to regulate waste disposal and water pollution.

  • Hold property in their name

    Mississippi, the first state to grant women the right to hold property in their own names with their husbands permission.

  • Plea for end of discrimination

    At Seneca Falls, New York, 300 women and men sign the Declaration of Sentiments, a plea for the end of discrimination against women.

  • Walden gets published

    Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden

  • Petition for Universal suffrage

    It was part of the first nation drive to focus on women's voting rights. The petition asks for an amendment to the constitution that prohibits several states from disfranchising any citizens on grounds of their gender.

  • Ecology term

    The term ecology is coined in German as Oekologie by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel

  • Acid rain

    The term acid rain is coined by Robert Angus Smith in the book Air and Rain

  • Smog term

    The term smog is coined by Henry Antoine Des Voeux in a London meeting to express concern over air pollution

  • National park service

    US Congress created the National Park Service

  • 19th amendment

    The federal woman suffrage amendment is passed by the house of representatives and the senate. Then it was sent to the states for ratification.

  • Tennessee Ratification of the 19th amendment

    the passing of the amendment allowing women the right to vote took place.

  • National recovery act

    The National Recovery Act forbids more than one family member from holding a government job, resulting in many women losing their jobs.

  • Silent spring

    Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring

  • Equal pay act

    The Equal Pay Act is passed by Congress, promising equitable wages for the same work, regardless of the race, color, religion, national origin or sex of the worker.

  • Apollo 8

    The Apollo 8 picture of Earthrise

  • Abortion comes legal

    Landmark Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade makes abortion legal. The Supreme Court in a separate ruling bans sex-segregated "help wanted" advertising.

  • Depletion of the ozone layer

    Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer entered into force

  • first female secretary

    Madeleine Albright become the first female secretary of state.

  • Kyoto protocol

    The Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in December. Countries that ratify this protocol commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide

  • rejection of the Kyoto protocol

    U.S. rejects the Kyoto Protocol

  • Paris agreement on climate change mitigation

    U.S. announces it will cease participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation

  • Rejoining of the Paris agreement on climate change mitigation

    U.S. announces it will rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation