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Philadelphia committee led by Benjamin Franklin attempts to regulate waste disposal and water pollution.
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Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden
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The term ecology is coined in German as Oekologie by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel
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The term acid rain is coined by Robert Angus Smith in the book Air and Rain
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The term smog is coined by Henry Antoine Des Voeux in a London meeting to express concern over air pollution
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US Congress created the National Park Service
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First Animal Launched Into Space
A dog named Laika went to space -
First Human to Orbit Earth
Yury Gagarin was the first person to orbit Earth -
Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring
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First Woman in Space
Valentina Tereshvoka was the first woman to ever go to space -
The Apollo 8 picture of Earthrise
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First humans to orbit the Moon
Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders were the first people to orbit the moon -
First Lunar Landing
Neil Armstrong & Edwin Aldrin were the first to walk on the Moon. -
First Earth Day – April 22. Millions of people gather in the United States for the first Earth Day. US Environmental Protection Agency established
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First Soft Landing on Another Planet
Venera 7 soft-landed on Venus -
First Space Station
Salyut 1 was the first space station launched -
First Spacecraft to Soft Land on Mars
Mars 3 soft-landed on Mars for the first time -
First Pictures Transmitted from the surface of MArs
Viking 1 was the first to take pictures from the surface of Mars. -
Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer entered into force
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The Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in December. Countries commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide
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U.S. rejects the Kyoto Protocol
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U.S. announces it will cease participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation
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First Landing on the Moon's Far Side
Chang'e 4 was the first to land on the moons far side -
U.S. announces it will rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation