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Philadelphia committee led by Benjamin Franklin attempts to regulate waste disposal and water pollution. -
The first women’s rights convention organized by women, held in New York with over 300 attendees -
Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to graduate from medical school and become a doctor in the United States. -
Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden -
The term ecology is coined in German as Oekologie by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel -
The legislature of the territory of Wyoming passes America’s first woman suffrage law, granting women the right to vote and hold office -
The term acid rain is coined by Robert Angus Smith in the book Air and Rain -
The term smog is coined by Henry Antoine Des Voeux in a London meeting to express concern over air pollution -
US Congress created the National Park Service -
Margaret Sanger opens the first birth control clinic in the United States, located in Brownsville, Brooklyn. It was deemed illegal under the “Comstock Laws” forbidding birth control. -
Jeannette Rankin of Montana is sworn in as the first woman elected to Congress as a member of the House of Representatives -
Ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is completed, declaring “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 FDA approves the first commercially produced birth control pill in the world, allowing women to control when and if they have children. -
Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring -
The Apollo 8 picture of Earthrise -
Millions of people gather in the United States for the first Earth Day. US Environmental Protection Agency established -
Title IX of the Education Amendments is signed into law by President Richard Nixon. It states “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." -
Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer entered into force -
The Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in December. Countries commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide -
U.S. rejects the Kyoto Protocol -
The U.S. military removes a ban against women serving in combat positions. -
U.S. announces it will cease participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation -
U.S. announces it will rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation -
Kamala Harris is sworn in as the first woman and first woman of color vice president of the United States.