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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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A monkey names Albert 1 became the first monkey launched into space. On board a US-launched V2 rocket.
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Sputnik was launched by the Soviet Union. It was about the size of a beach ball and it orbited Earth. The Sputnik launch changed everything and caught the world's attention. This launch started the launch of the space race and age.
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The USSR sent Yuri Gagarin into space, being the first man to go to space. He made a single orbit around Earth in Vostok 1.
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Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring.
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Valentina Tereshkova was a Soviet cosmonaut aboard Vostok 6. She spent almost three days in space. Valentina went through 18 months of training, while she was not a pilot she had over 120 parachute jumps.
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Alex Leonov carried out the first ever spacewalk aboard the Voskhod spacecraft. The spacewalk lasted about 12 minutes. He beat out American rival Ed White on Gemini 4.
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The Apollo 8 picture of Earthrise
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American Neil Armstrong became the first man to step foot on the moon aboard Apollo 11. Armstrong and Buzz spent about two hours collecting rock samples. Armstrong is known for the quote, "That's on small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
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Earth Day – April 22., millions of people gather in the United States for the first Earth Day organized by Gaylord Nelson, former senator of Wisconsin, and Denis Hayes, Harvard graduate student. US Environmental Protection Agency established
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Salyut 1 was the first space station launched by the Soviet Union. Orbited Earth about 3,000 times and paved the way for other future space stations. It was shaped like a cylinder, and crashed into the Pacific Ocean.
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American Bruce McCandless the second was a Naval Officer and was the first man to test the maneuvering unit. This allowed him to move from about an hour and was able to move away from the unit. This was used on Gemini 4.
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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 that ratify this protocol commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases
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The ISS is the largest artificial body in space. More than 200 people from 15 countries have visited.
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U.S. rejects the Kyoto Protocol
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Dennis Tito a billionaire businessman from California was the first passenger to go to space for vacation. He paid $20 million for the trip.
