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Philadelphia committee
led by Benjamin Franklin attempts to regulate waste disposal and water pollution. -
Declaration of Independence
With the war won, independence secured, and the Articles of Confederation proving inadequate, the Founding Fathers laid down the law by which the new country would be governed -
Whiskey Rebellion
As the new country began finding its feet, U.S. Pres. George Washington sent troops to western Pennsylvania in 1794 to quell the Whiskey Rebellion, an uprising by citizens who refused to pay a liquor tax -
Louisiana Purchase
that made up the western Mississippi basin, passed from French colonial rule to Spanish colonial rule and then back to the French before U.S. Pres. Thomas Jefferson pried it -
Walden
Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden -
The term ecology
The term ecology is coined in German as Oekologie by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel -
Air and Rain
The term acid rain is coined by Robert Angus Smith in the book Air and Rain -
Plessy v. Ferguson
gave constitutional sanction to laws designed to achieve racial segregation by means of separate and supposedly equal public facilities and services -
smog
The term acid rain is coined by Robert Angus Smith in the book Air and Rain -
National Park Service
US Congress created the National Park Service -
Stock Market Crash
The era came to a close in October 1929 when the stock market crashed, setting the stage for years of economic deprivation and calamity during the Great Depression. -
The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
with the war in Europe over and U.S. forces advancing on Japan, U.S. Pres. Harry S. Truman ushered in the nuclear era by choosing to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in the hope that the terrible destruction unleashed would prevent an even greater loss of life that seemed likely -
Silent Spring
Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring -
Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr
The April 4, 1968, assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., the most prominent civil rights leader, revealed the tragic, violent consequences that could result from a country’s political polarization. -
The Apollo \
The Apollo 8 picture of Earthrise -
Earth Day
1970 — 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 -
PATCO Strike
economic policies predicated on the notion that lower taxes on wealthy “job creators” would create a rising tide that would lift all boats. Critics argued that the wealth created during the decade never “trickled down” to the rank and file. -
Montreal Protocol on substances
1989 — Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer entered into force -
Kyoto Protocol
1997 — 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 gases1989 — Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer entered into force -
September 11 Attacks
Although terrorist attacks had been directed at the United States at the end of the 20th century, a new sense of vulnerability was introduced into American life on September 11, 2001, -
Kyoto Protocol
2001 — U.S. rejects the Kyoto Protocol -
Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation
2017 — U.S. announces it will cease participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation -
Covid-19
Nationwide pandemice -
Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation
2021 — U.S. announces it will rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation
