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Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring -
Philadelphia committee led by Benjamin Franklin attempts to regulate waste disposal and water pollution -
In 1950, the Korean War began as North Korea invaded South Korea. The United States intervened, leading a UN force to support South Korea against the communist North. -
The term acid rain is coined by Robert Angus Smith in the book Air and Rain -
Henry David Thoreau published Walden -
The term ecology is coined in German as Oekologie by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel -
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 -
surprise aerial attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, by the Japanese that precipitated the entry of the United States into World War II. -
The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 8, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan, marking the country's entry into World War II. -
In June 1942, the Battle of Midway took place, a crucial naval battle where the U.S. defeated Japan and turned the tide in the Pacific Theater of World War II. -
On June 6, 1944, Allied forces, including U.S. troops, launched the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France, a major turning point in the European Theater of World War II. -
In August 1945, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to Japan's surrender and the end of World War II. -
The United Nations was established in 1945, with the United States playing a key role in its formation, aiming to promote international cooperation and prevent future conflicts. -
In 1948, Secretary of State George Marshall proposed the Marshall Plan, a massive economic aid program to help rebuild Western European nations devastated by World War II. -
The 1950s and 1960s saw the Civil Rights Movement, advocating for equal rights for African Americans. Landmark events include the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
The Apollo 8 picture of Earthrise -
The U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in the Space Race during the Cold War. In 1969, the U.S. achieved a major milestone by landing the first humans on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. -
April 22. Millions of people gather in the United States for the first Earth Day. US Environmental Protection Agency established -
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 -
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