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Philadelphia committee led by Benjamin Franklin attempts to regulate waste disposal and water pollution
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The first women's rights convention was held by women in the Seneca Falls Convention in New York with 300 people attending.
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Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to graduate from medical school and become a doctor in the United States. Highest grades in her entire class
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The term ecology is coined in German as Oekologie by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel
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In 1890, Wyoming is the 44th state admitted to the Union and becomes the first state to allow women the right to vote
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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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Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden
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Rosa Parks, an African American seamstress refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. This helped launch the Civil Rights Movement
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Rachel Carsonpublishes Silent Spring
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President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act into a law. Title VII bans employment discrimination based on race, religion, national origin or gender
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The Apollo 8 picture of Earthrise
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Earth Day – April 22., millions of people gather in the United States for the first Earth Day organized by Gaylord Nelson, former senator of Wisconsin, and Denis Hayes, Harvard graduate student. US Environmental Protection Agency established
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The U.S Supreme Court declares that the Constitution protects a women's right to a legal abortion in the Roe v. Wade case.
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Sandra Day O'Connor is sworn in by the President Ronald Reagan as the first women to serve on the Supreme Court. Retired in 2006
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Sally Ride became the first American Women in space while flying in the Space Shuttle Challenger
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Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer entered into force
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Bill Clinton signed the Violence Against Women Act as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. Provides funding for programs that help victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, and more.
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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 and five other greenhouse gases
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U.S. rejects the Kyoto Protocol
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The United States military removes a ban against women not being able to serve in combat positions
