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Philadelphia Water Commission
And from 1762 to 1769, a "Philadelphia committee led by Franklin attempts to regulate waste disposal and water pollution." Finally, in 1797, Franklin's will stipulated the construction of a fresh water pipeline for Philadelphia, which led to the formation of the Philadelphia Water Commission. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. -
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Declaration of Independance
The creation of the draft document of the Declaration of Independence to the final version on the Fourth of July in 1776 -
Signing of Declaration of Independence
When the final copy of The Declaration of Independence was signed and declared. -
The Bill of Rights Approved
On December 15, 1791, Articles Three–Twelve, having been ratified by the required number of states, became Amendments 1–10 of the Constitution. -
Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden
Henry David Thoreau's classic Walden, or, A Life in the Woods is required reading in many classrooms today. But when it was first published—on August 9, 1854—it sold just around 300 copies a year. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." -
The word 'ecology' was coined
Ecology was originally defined in the mid-19th century, when biology was a vastly different discipline than it is today. The original definition is from Ernst Haeckel, who defined ecology as the study of the relationship of organisms with their environment. -
Civil Rights Act Passed
On April 9, 1866, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act declaring that all person born in the Unites States were citizens with full rights under the Constitution. -
The term 'acid rain' is coined
The term acid rain is coined by Robert Angus Smith in the book Air and Rain -
The term 'smog' is coined
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
President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service, a new federal bureau in the Department of the Interior responsible for protecting the 35 national parks and monuments then managed by the department and those yet to be established. -
Women's Voting Rights (19th Amendment)
When the 19th amendment was passed and gave women the right to vote. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, killing more than 2,300 Americans. -
Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring
The book Silent Spring by biologist and nature writer Rachel Carson was published in 1962. Carson's research on the effect of insecticides (specifically DDT) on bird populations coupled with her moving prose made Silent Spring a best-seller, though chemical companies attacked it as unscientific. -
Assassination of JFK
Shortly after noon on November 22, 1963, 35th President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas. -
Moon Landing (Apollo 11)
When the first two people ever successfully landed on the moon, televised. -
Terrorist Attack on New York
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001.