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Philadelphia committee led by Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin led a commission in Philadelphia to enhance waste collection and decrease water pollution. -
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is a really significant document in American history. This document established that the thirteen original thirteen American colonies were now independent states and no longer controlled by the British Empire. -
The Constitution of the United States
The Constitution of the United States created America's national government and fundamental laws, and protected certain basic rights for its citizens. It granted the federal government the power to tax..created three branches of government, and checks and balances. -
The Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Many of our rights and freedoms are stated in this document and it was written to address the objections brought on by Anti-Federalists. -
Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden
The motive for writing the book, Walden was to gain a greater understanding of nature and search for an escape from the surrounding world. -
Abolition of Slavery in America
The Abolition of Slavery in America became the 13th Amendment. The Northern States would not be forced to return runaway slaves to their masters. The 13th amendment abolished slavery and any service done involuntary -
Abraham Lincoln Assassination
Abraham Lincoln was shot in the head in Ford's Theatre's presidential box by actor, John Wilkes Booth. He was the first president to be assassinated and died at the end of the Civil War, five days after Confederate Robert E. Lee surrendered. Lincoln was a fan of his assassin and even invited him to the White House. -
The term ecology is coined in German as Oekologie by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel
The first definition was from Ernst Haeckel, who defined ecology as the study of the relationship of organisms with their environment. Ecology is derived form the Greek word 'oikos', which means home and 'logos' which means study. -
The term acid rain is coined by Robert Angus Smith in the book Air and Rain
The term 'acid rain' was coined in the mid-1800s, when Robert Angus Smith saw that rain tended to be more acidic in areas with increased air pollution and that buildings fall apart quicker in areas where coal is burned. He studied the effects of pollution on the atmosphere, which is where he got the term 'acid rain' from. -
The term smog is coined by Henry Antoine Des Voeux in a London meeting to express concern over air pollution
In Henry's paper, "Fog and Smoke" for a meeting of the Public Health Congress in London, he blended two words, smoke and fog, to produce a new term smog. It referred to a type of air pollution that was caused by the heavy use of coal in industries and home heating -
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 in charge of protecting the 35 national parks and monuments then lead by the department and those yet to be created. -
The 19th Amendment Gives Women The Right To Vote
It took 70 years before Congress eventually passed the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The first women voted in 1920, after the 19th Amendment was ratified on August 18. -
Pearl Harbor
The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service struck the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory. This attack immediately led to the United State's entry into World War Two. -
Racial Segregation In Schools Becomes Unconstitutional
Brown v. Board was a milestone decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that announced state law creating separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. -
Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring was a turning point in the evolution of the modern environmental movement. -
Kennedy Is Assassinated; Lyndon Johnson Becomes President
President Kennedy was assassinated during his Dallas trip when Lee Harvey Oswald fired three shots from a sixth-floor window of the Texas School Book Depository. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Is Assassinated
Martin Luther King Jr. was known for being a very passionate civil-rights activist. He played a great role in creating the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act In 1964. He was the youngest person to the win the Nobel Peace Price and he is also quoted for the "I Have a Dream Speech". He was assassinated at an event that shocked the world. -
The Apollo 8 picture of Earthrise
This iconic picture shows Earth glimpsing out from beyond the lunar surface as the first crewed spacecraft circled the Moon, with astronauts Anders, Frank Borman, and Jim Lovell aboard. -
Earth Day
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
This is an international agreement. It was created to prevent the creation and import of ozone depleting substances and decrease their concentration in the atmosphere to help protect the earth's ozone layer -
The Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in December. Countries commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide
This is a legally binding treated that was adopted in Kyoto, Japan. IT entered into force on February 16, 2005. The Protocol requires industrialized countries to limit and decrease GHG emissions by 5.2% below the 1990s base year level by 2008-12 in aggregate. -
U.S. rejects the Kyoto Protocol
In 2001, the U.S. formally refused the Kyoto Protocol and looking back on Kyoto's track record that is a really good thing. Out of 36 developed countries, 17, or nearly half of them failed to meet their GHG targets. -
U.S. announces it will cease participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation
United States President Donald Trump declared that the U.S. would end all involvement in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation, claiming that the agreement would "undermine" the U.S. economy, and put the U.S. "at a permanent disadvantage." -
U.S. announces it will rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation
Once inaugurated, Biden signed an executive order to rejoin the agreement in January. The country formally rejoined the Paris Agreement on February 19, 2021.