-
Philadelphia committee led by Benjamin Franklin attempts to regulate waste disposal and water pollution. -
The first women’s rights convention organized by women, the Seneca Falls Convention is held in New York by organizers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. -
Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden -
The term ecology is coined in German as Oekologie by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel -
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association, which coordinated the national suffrage movement. -
Wyoming passes America’s first woman suffrage law, granting women the right to vote and hold office. -
The term acid rain is coined by Robert Angus Smith in the book Air and Rain -
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
-
Ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is completed, declaring woman the ability to vote. It is nicknamed “The Susan B. Anthony Amendment” in honor of her work on behalf of women’s suffrage. -
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the first commercially produced birth control pill in the world, allowing women to control when and if they have children. -
Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring -
President John F. Kennedy signs into law the Equal Pay Act, prohibiting gender based wage discrimination between men and women performing the same job in the same workplace. -
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 -
In its landmark Roe v. Wade decision, the U.S. Supreme Court declares that the Constitution protects a woman’s legal right to an abortion -
Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer entered into force -
Clinton signs the Violence Against Women Act as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, providing funding for programs that help victims of domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, and other gender related violence. -
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 -
The U.S. military removes a ban against women serving in combat positions. -
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 -
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned 50 years of precedent, overruling Roe v. Wade.