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Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau is published
The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, and manual for self reliance. -
Svante Arrhenius
Svante August Arrhenius (19 February 1859 – 2 October 1927) was a Swedish scientist, originally a physicist, but often referred to as a chemist, and one of the founders of the science of physical chemistry. The Arrhenius equation, lunar crater Arrhenius and the Arrhenius Labs at Stockholm University are named after him. -
The Homestead Act
The Homestead Act was a United States Federal law that gave an applicant freehold title to 160 acres (1/4-1 section of undeveloped land outside of the original 13 colonies. The Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862. -
Man and Nature by George Perkins Marsh
It is one of the first works to document the effects of human action on the environment and it helped to launch the modern conservation movement. Marsh argued that ancient Mediterranean civilizations collapsed through environmental degradation. Deforestation led to eroded soils that led to decreased soil productivity. -
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The U.S. FWS originated in 1871 as the U.S. Commission on Fish and Fisheries, created by Congress with the purpose of studying and recommending solutions to a decline in food fish. -
Yellowstone National Park is established by congress
1872 (March 1): Yellowstone National Park Established: Yellowstone National Park is established by the U.S. Congress as a national park on March 1, 1872. The park was the first of its kind, and is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful Geyser, one of the most popular features in the park. -
The Forest Reserve Act
The Forest Reserve Act of 1891 allowed the President of the United States to set aside forest reserves from the land in the public domain. -
The Sierra Club is founded
The Sierra Club is the oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892 in San Francisco, California by the well-known conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president. To explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the qual -
The Lacey Act is passed
The law prohibited the transportation of illegally captured or prohibited animals across state lines. It was the first federal law protecting wildlife, and is still in effect, though it has been revised several times. Today the law is primarily used to prevent the importation or spread of potentially dangerous non-native species. -
Pelican Island Refuge is founded
1903: (March 14): Pelican Island Refuge: Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge located near Vero Beach, Florida. The refuge consists of a 3-acre (12,000 m2) island that includes an additional 2.5 acres (10,000 m2) of surrounding water and is located off the east coast of Florida of the Indian River Lagoon. Established by an executive order of President Theodore Roosevelt on March 14, 1903, Pelican Island was the first national wildlife refuge in the -
The Pure Food and Drug Act is passed
United States federal law that provided federal inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated food products and poisonous patent medicines. The Act arose due to public education and exposés from Muckrakers such as Upton Sinclair and Samuel Hopkins Adams, social activist Florence Kelley, researcher Harvey W. Wiley, and President Theodore Roosevelt. -
The Ecological Society of America is founded
The society was formed at a meeting at Columbus Ohio, on December 28, 1915 with the aims being to: Promote ecological science by improving communication among ecologists; Raise the public's level of awareness of the importance of ecological science; Increase the resources available for the conduct of ecological science. -
The National Park Service Act is passed
The Act was signed into law on August 25, 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson, and is located in Title 16 of the United States Code. First NPS Director Stephen Mather was put in charge of supervising and maintaining all designated national parks, battlefields, historic places, and monuments. -
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is signed
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 is the United States statute that makes it unlawful to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill or sell birds listed therein. The statute does not discriminate between live or dead birds and also grants full protection to any bird parts including feathers, eggs and nests. Over 800 species are currently on the list. -
The Dust Bowl begins
A period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1931 to 1936. The phenomenon was caused by severe drought coupled with decades of extensive farming without crop rotation, fallow fields, cover crops and other techniques to prevent erosion. Deep plowing of the virgin topsoil of the Great Plains had killed the natural grasses that normally kept the soil in place and trapped moisture even -
The Civilian Conservation Corps is established
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public work relief program for unemployed men, providing vocational training through the performance of useful work related to conservation and development of natural resources in the United States from 1933 to 1942. -
The Taylor Grazing Act is passed
The Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 is a United States federal law that provides for the regulation of grazing on the public lands (excluding Alaska) to improve rangeland conditions and regulate their use. -
The Wilderness Society is founded
The Wilderness Society is an American organization that is dedicated to protecting America's wilderness. It was formed in 1935 and currently has over 300,000 members and supporters. -
The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act is passed
This Act, Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act , is commonly called the "Pittman-Robertson Act." It has been amended several times, and provides Federal aid to States for management and restoration of wildlife. -
The Atomic Energy Act is passed
The Atomic Energy Act of 1946 (McMahon Act) determined how the United States federal government would control and manage the nuclear technology it had jointly developed with its wartime allies (Britain and Canada). Most significantly it ruled that nuclear weapon development and nuclear power management would be under civilian, rather than military, control, and established the United States Atomic Energy Commission for this purpose. -
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act is passed
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act is a United States federal law that set up the basic U.S. system of pesticide regulation to protect applicators, consumers and the environment. It is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the appropriate environmental agencies of the respective states. -
The Nature Conservancy is founded
The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization working to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. -
The Great Smog occurs in London
The Great Smog (or Big Smoke) of 1952 was the severe smog that affected London during the period of Friday 5th to Tuesday 9th December 1952, today seen as the worst air pollution event in the history of the United Kingdom. -
The World Wide Fund for Nature is founded
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment. The organization was formed as a charitable trust on September 11, 1961, in Morges, Switzerland, under the name World Wildlife Fund. It was an initiative of Julian Huxley and Max Nicholson, who had thirty years experience of linking progressive intellectuals with big business in -
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson is published
This is a book written by Rachel Carson and published by Houghton Mifflin in September 1962. The book is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement. -
The Land and Water Conservation Fund is established
The United States' Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is a Federal program that was established by Act of Congress in 1964 to provide monies and matching grants to federal, state and local governments for the acquisition of land and water, and easements on land and water, for the benefit of all Americans. -
The Population Bomb is published
The Population Bomb (1968) is a book written by Paul R. Ehrlich. A best-selling work, it predicted disaster for humanity due to overpopulation and the "population explosion". The book predicted that "in the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death", that nothing can be done to avoid mass famine greater than any in the history, and radical action is needed to limit the overpopulation. -
Tragedy of the Commons is published
Aside from being one of the most monotonous, most boring pieces ever written, it was an influential article written by Garrett Hardin and first published in the journal Science in 1968. The article describes a dilemma in which multiple individuals acting independently and solely and rationally consulting their own self-interest will ultimately destroy a shared limited resource even when it is clear that it is not in anyone's long term interest for this to -
The National Resources Defense Council is co-founded by John Adams
This organization lobbies Congress and other public officials for a public policy that promotes conservation of the natural and built environment. -
The First Earth Day
Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wisconsin) as an environmental teach-in in 1970, and is celebrated in many countries every year. It is celebrated in the US on April 22, John Lenin's birthday. -
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is established
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged to regulate chemicals and protect human health by safeguarding the natural environment: air, water, and land. -
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss is published
In 1971, Dr. Seuss publishes his book The Lorax which is a comment on the way capitalist society is abusing and degrading the environment. It is banned in numerous schools nationwide. -
Marine Mammal Protection Act is passed
The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) of 1972 was the first article of legislation to call specifically for an ecosystem approach to natural resource management and conservation. MMPA prohibits the taking of marine mammals, and enacts a moratorium on the import, export, and sale of any marine mammal, along with any marine mammal part or product within the United States. -
The Noise Control Act is passed
The Noise, Pollution, and Abatement Act of 1972 (or Noise Control Act of 1972 is a statute of the United States initiating a federal program of regulating noise pollution with the intent of protecting human health and minimizing annoyance of noise to the general public. -
Ocean Dumping Act is passed
Ocean Dumping Act was one of several key environmental laws passed by the US Congress in 1972. It originally authorized the EPA to regulate ocean dumping of industrial waste, sewage sludge, biological agents, NBC, radioactive waste and other wastes into the territorial waters of the United States through a permit program. -
Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act passed
Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act or Ocean Dumping Act was one of several key environmental laws passed by the US Congress in 1972. It originally authorized the EPA to regulate ocean dumping of industrial waste, sewage sludge, biological agents, NBC, radioactive waste and other wastes into the territorial waters of the United States through a permit program. A prohibition on medical waste was enacted in 19 -
The Coastal Zone Management Act is passed
The Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 is an Act of Congress passed in 1972 to encourage coastal states to develop and implement coastal zone management plans. -
The Endangered Species Act is passed
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is the most wide-ranging of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s. As stated in section 2 of the act, it was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation." -
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act is passed
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), enacted in 1976, is the principal Federal law in the United States governing the disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste. -
The Soil and Water Conservation Act is passed
The Soil and Water Conservation Act (RCA) is a 1977 law (P.L. 95-192) that requires USDA to periodically prepare a national plan for soil and water conservation on private lands based on an inventory and appraisal of existing resource conditions and trends. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is the lead agency in this effort, and completed appraisals in the early 1980s and late 1980s; a third appraisal was initiated in the early 1990s, but not co -
The United States Department of Energy is established
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material. -
The Three Mile Island Incident
The Three Mile Island accident of 1979 was a partial core meltdown in Unit 2 (a pressurized water reactor manufactured by Babcock & Wilcox) of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg. -
Times Beach, Missouri is evacuated
The town was completely evacuated early in 1983 due to a dioxin scare that made national headlines. It was the largest civilian exposure to dioxin in the United States. -
The Bhopal Disaster
The Bhopal disaster or Bhopal gas tragedy was an industrial disaster that took place at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in the Indian city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. At midnight on 3 December 1984, the plant released an estimated 42 tons of toxic methyl isocyanine (MIC) gas, exposing more than 500,000 people to MIC and other chemicals. -
The Superfund law is passed
Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), a United States federal law designed to clean up abandoned hazardous waste sites. -
The Chernobyl Disaster
The Chernobyl Disaster was a nuclear reactor accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. On the 26 of April 1986 reactor number four at the Chernobyl plant, near Pripyat in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, exploded. -
The Montreal Protocol is signed
The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer (a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer) is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of a number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion. -
The Exxon Valdez incident
The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in the Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989. It is considered one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters ever to occur at sea. The vessel spilled 10.8 million U.S. gallons (about 40 million liters) of Prudhoe Bay crude oil into the sea, and the oil eventually covered 11,000 square miles (28,000 km2) of ocean. -
Earth in the Balance by Al Gore is published
Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit is a 1992 book written by Al Gore, published in June 1992, shortly before he was elected Vice President in the 1992 presidential election. Known by the short title Earth in the Balance, the book explains the world's ecological predicament and describes a range of policies to deal with the most pressing problems. -
The Kyoto 161 Nation Conference
The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, an international environmental treaty with the goal of achieving "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
