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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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The Sputnik was the first man-made object to leaves the earths atmosphere. Launched by the USSR.
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Two monkeys become the first living creatures to survive a space flight.
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The USSR sends Yuri Gagarin into space. He made a single orbit of Earth in 108 minutes and traveled at more than 17,000 miles per hour.
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Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring
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The Soviet Union sends Valentina Tereshkova into space. She circled the earth 49 times during 3 days in space.
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The Apollo 8 picture of Earthrise
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American, Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon. Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin spent 2 hours on the moon collecting rock samples and setting up observation equipment. The entire mission lasted 8 days.
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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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Russia launches Salyut, the first space station.
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Mariner 9, an unnamed NASA probe, became the first spacecraft to circle another planet after it completed an orbit around Mars.
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Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer entered into force
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The Hubble Space Telescope was placed into orbit by crew members of the space shuttle Discovery. The most sophisticated optical observatory ever to orbit Earth.
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The Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in December. Countries that ratify this protocol commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide
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U.S. rejects the Kyoto Protocol
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Dennis Tito, a millionaire business man, became the first paying passanger to travel into outer space.
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U.S. announces it will cease participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation
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NASA announces the discovery of planetary system Trappist-1, which containes seven Earth sized planets orbiting a red dwarf star.
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U.S. announces it will rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation