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Jan 1, 1257
Queen of England escapes pollution
Queen Eleanor of Provence leaves Nottingham Castle when the air pollution becomes too intense after deluge of heavy coal smoke. -
Jan 1, 1388
Parliament takes a stand
English Parliament passes an act that forbids people from throwing filth and garbage into all ditches, rivers and waters. -
Jan 1, 1500
Industrialization grips England
Rapid industrialization in English cities leads to heavy deforestation and increased use of coal over wood. -
Penn saves trees
Colonial Governor William Penn mandates that Pennsylvania settlers preserve one acre of trees for every five acres cleared. -
Ben Franklin petitions to stop dumping
Ben Franklin and neighbors petitons Pennsylvania assembly to stop dumping waste and to remove tanneries from Philadelphia's commercial district. -
Romantic poets speak out for nature
William Wordsworth is born, the first of England's romantic poets. Later in life, Wordsworth would say the industrial revolution was an "outrage done to nature" and become appalled that common people were no longer "breathing fresh air" or "treading the green earth." -
People in India lay down lives for trees
Belief in the protection of plants and animals causes 294 Indian men and 69 Indian women to lay down their lives to protect the Khejri tree. -
Birth of coal gas as light power
William Murdock first uses coal gas for light, with a technique that passes the coal gas through water. This is the beginning of the manufactured gas industry, which eventually created vast amounts of toxic coal tar in Europe and America. -
Greece experiments with solar power
In Alexandria, Greece, people experiment with solar powered pumps.