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Important dates in women’s rights history

By bridgetmillett

  • Philadelphia committee

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

  • Henry David Thoreau

    publishes Walden

  • The term ecology

    coined in German as Oekologie by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel

  • The term acid rain

    coined by Robert Angus Smith in the book Air and Rain

  • The term smog

    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
  • The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified

    The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified

    It declares: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
  • The 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
  • The Equal Pay Act

    The Equal Pay Act

    passed by Congress, promising equitable wages for the same work, regardless of the race, color, religion, national origin or sex of the worker.
  • Executive Order 11246

    Executive Order 11246

    Prohibits sex discrimination by government contractors and requires affirmative action plans for hiring women.
  • Earthrise

    Earthrise

    The Apollo 8 picture of Earthrise

  • First Earth Day

    Millions of people gather in the United States for the first Earth Day. US Environmental Protection Agency established
  • Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438

    Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438

    the Supreme Court rules that the right to privacy encompasses an unmarried person’s right to use contraceptives
  • Title IX (Public Law 92-318) of the Education Amendments

    Title IX (Public Law 92-318) of the Education Amendments

    prohibits sex discrimination in all aspects of education programs that receive federal support
  • Roe v. Wade

    Roe v. Wade

    The U.S. Supreme Court declares that the Constitution protects women’s right to terminate an early pregnancy, thus making abortion legal in the U.S
  • The Pregnancy Discrimination Act

    The Pregnancy Discrimination Act

    bans employment discrimination against pregnant women

  • Montreal Protocol

    Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer entered into force
  • Congress adopts the Gender Equity in Education Act

    Congress adopts the Gender Equity in Education Act

    to train teachers in gender equity, promote math and science learning by girls, counsel pregnant teens, and prevent sexual harassment
  • The Violence Against Women Act

    The Violence Against Women Act

    Funds services for victims of rape and domestic violence, allows women to seek civil rights remedies for gender-related crimes, provides training to increase police and court officials’ sensitivity and a national 24-hour hotline for battered women.

  • The Kyoto Protocol

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

  • Kyoto Protocol

    U.S. rejects the Kyoto Protocol

  • Paris Agreement

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

  • Paris Agreement

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