important dates in labor history

  • Slaves from Africa first imported to colonies

    Slaves from Africa first imported to colonies
  • Philadelphia committee led by Benjamin Franklin attempts to regulate waste disposal and water pollution.

  • Laborers protest royal taxation in the Boston tea Party

    Laborers protest royal taxation in the Boston tea Party
  • Philadelphia printers conduct first successful strike for increased wages

    Philadelphia printers conduct first successful strike for increased wages
  • Slave importation prohibited

    Slave importation prohibited
  • Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden

  • National Labor Union founded

    National Labor Union founded
  • 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

  • Industrial Workers of the World founded

    Industrial Workers of the World founded
  • 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

  • Child labor banned

    Child labor banned
  • Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring

  • March on Washington for jobs and Justice Equal Pay Act bans wage discrimination based on gender

    March on Washington for jobs and Justice Equal Pay Act bans wage discrimination based on gender
  • Civil Rights Act bans institutional forms of racial discrimination

    Civil Rights Act bans institutional forms of racial discrimination
  • The Apollo 8 picture of Earthrise

  • First Earth Day – April 22. Millions of people gather in the United States for the first Earth Day. US Environmental Protection Agency established

  • Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer entered into force

  • United Mine Workers of America win strike against Pittston Coal United Steelworkers of America labor Alliance created within the AFL-CIO

    	United Mine Workers of America win strike against Pittston Coal United Steelworkers of America labor Alliance created within the AFL-CIO
  • The Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in December. Countries commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide

  • U.S. rejects the Kyoto Protocol

  • U.S. announces it will cease participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation

  • U.S. announces it will rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation