-
Philadelphia committee led by Benjamin Franklin attempts to regulate waste disposal and water pollution. -
Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden -
The term ecology is coined in German as Oekologie by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel
-
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 -
The Sputnik was the first man-made object to leaves the earths atmosphere. Launched by the USSR. -
Two monkeys become the first living creatures to survive a space flight. -
The USSR sends Yuri Gagarin into space. He made a single orbit of Earth in 108 minutes and traveled at more than 17,000 miles per hour. -
Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring -
The Soviet Union sends Valentina Tereshkova into space. She circled the earth 49 times during 3 days in space. -
The Apollo 8 picture of Earthrise -
American, Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon. Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin spent 2 hours on the moon collecting rock samples and setting up observation equipment. The entire mission lasted 8 days. -
First Earth Day – April 22. Millions of people gather in the United States for the first Earth Day. US Environmental Protection Agency established -
Russia launches Salyut, the first space station. -
Mariner 9, an unnamed NASA probe, became the first spacecraft to circle another planet after it completed an orbit around Mars. -
Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer entered into force -
The Hubble Space Telescope was placed into orbit by crew members of the space shuttle Discovery. The most sophisticated optical observatory ever to orbit Earth. -
The Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in December. Countries that ratify this protocol commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide
-
U.S. rejects the Kyoto Protocol
-
Dennis Tito, a millionaire business man, became the first paying passanger to travel into outer space. -
U.S. announces it will cease participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation
-
NASA announces the discovery of planetary system Trappist-1, which containes seven Earth sized planets orbiting a red dwarf star. -
U.S. announces it will rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation