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Philadelphia committee led by Benjamin Franklin attempts to regulate waste disposal and water pollution.
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Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden
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The term ecology is coined in German as Oekologie by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel
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The term acid rain is coined by Robert Angus Smith in the book Air and Rain
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The term smog is coined by Henry Antoine Des Voeux in a London meeting to express concern over air pollution
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US Congress created the National Park Service
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first animal launched into space
dog Laika aboard was the first dog sent to space. -
first spacecraft to orbit another planet (Mars)
The first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. The first human to go into space, Yuri Gagarin, was launched, again by the Soviet Union, for a one-orbit journey around Earth on April 12, 1961. Within 10 years of that first human flight, American astronauts walked on the surface of the Moon.
which can be found in https://www.britannica.com/science/space-exploration/Major-milestones -
first spacecraft to hard-land on another celestial object
was the first spacecraft to strike the Moon, and Luna 3 (Oct. 4, 1959) made the first circumnavigation of the Moon and returned the first photographs of its far side. -
first applications satellite launched
The cloud-cover pictures transmitted by the TIROS craft enabled meteorologists to track, forecast, and analyze storms. There were 10 TIROS satellites, the last of which, TIROS 10, was launched on July 2, 1965. -
first applications satellite launched
any of a series of U.S. meteorological satellites, the first of which was launched on April 1, 1960. The TIROS satellites comprised the first worldwide weather observation system. -
first recovery of a payload from Earth orbit
any of a series of 38 unmanned experimental satellites launched by the United States Air Force. Although the Discoverer satellites had several apparent applications such as testing orbital maneuvering and reentry techniques the program was actually a cover story for Corona, a joint Air Force Central Intelligence Agency project to develop a military reconnaissance satellite. -
first human to orbit Earth
Yury A. Gagarin made a single orbit of Earth before reentry. The Vostok series included six launchings over a two-year period (1961–63). While the first flight lasted only 1 hour and 48 minutes, the second, Vostok 2 (Aug. 6, 1961), remained in space for more than 25 hours, making 17 orbits around the Earth. The remaining Vostok missions were launched in pairs. Vostok 3 and Vostok 4 were both launched on Aug. 11, 1962 -
Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring
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first data returned from another planet (Venus)
5 (launched June 14, 1967) passed Venus within 35,000 and 4,000 km (22,000 and 2,500 miles), respectively, and made measurements of temperature and atmospheric density. Mariner 3 (launched Nov. 5, 1964) was supposed to fly by Mars, but contact was lost shortly after liftoff. -
first woman in space
which completed 48 orbits in 71 hours. In space at the same time was Valery F. Bykovsky, who had been launched two days earlier in Vostok 5; both landed on June 19. -
first death during a space mission
born March 16, 1927, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.—died April 24, 1967, Kazakhstan), Soviet cosmonaut, the first man known to have died during a space mission. -
The Apollo 8 picture of Earthrise
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First Earth Day – April 22. Millions of people gather in the United States for the first Earth Day. US Environmental Protection Agency established
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Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer entered into force
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The Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in December. Countries commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide
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U.S. rejects the Kyoto Protocol
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U.S. announces it will cease participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation
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U.S. announces it will rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation