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Earth Day History for Kids
The History of Earth Day
dates back many years and was inspired by a series of numerous and
disastrous events that caused significant harm to the planet and our
environment. The following fact
sheet contains interesting facts, timeline and information on
Earth Day
for kids.
Earth Day History Timeline of Main Dates and Events
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1800's -
The history of Earth Day began with the mechanization of industry
during the
Industrialization in
America that transformed the United States from an
agricultural to an industrial society. The
industrialization brought about about complex social and
economic changes together with environmental
degradation.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1800's -
The latter part of
the 1800's saw the introduction of the factory system
and the heavy, dense smoke that belched from the
factories that polluted the air. New
transportation systems such as the steam locomotive and
steam boats enabled people to move to the cities. The
gasoline powered automobile was invented by Karl Benz in
1886.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1800's -
The
opportunities to work in cities, rather than on farms,
led to the
rapid
Urbanization
of
America. Poor sanitation for people, and horse waste
left in the streets, led to pollution in the cities
followed by deadly epidemics due to untreated waste and raw sewage.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1890 -1920 -
The exploitation and mis-management
of natural resources during the Progressive era (1890
- 1920) gave rise to the
Conservation Movement and the introduction of wildlife
sanctuaries and national
parks during the administration of
President Theodore Roosevelt.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1890 -1920 -
Environmentalism played an important
part within the Progressive Movement as concerns began
to surface
about man's interference
to the natural habitat,
the destruction of plants and trees, changes to natural
water supplies and air pollution .
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1890 -1920 -
The early environmentalists clashed with industry
leaders believing that the natural world, including
animals, birds, fish, plants, trees, water and air
should be protected from destruction or pollution. The
warnings of environmentalists were largely ignored and
the natural resources of America were exploited by men
who cared nothing for the environment or conservation,
they were driven purely by profit.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1909 -
The
1900's
witnessed the rise in the popularity of the automobile.
Between 1909 - 1927 over 15 million
Ford
Model T vehicles rolled off the newly developed assembly lines
and were sold to eager, car-crazy citizens.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1923 -
Automobile manufacturers
introduced leaded gas (gasoline spiked with lead) to enhance engine
performance of cars. Despite warnings that lead was a “serious menace to
public health” leaded gas was introduced to
the market and car makers began to fight mandatory emissions control for their cars.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1945 -
World War Two
was brought to a dramatic end as the world watched in
horror at the power of the Atomic bomb and the deadly and
devastating effects of nuclear explosions on people and the
environment.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1945 -
Following World
War Two the
concept of ecology, which placed a higher value on
esthetics and biology over efficiency and commerce,
began to penetrate the public mind of Americans.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1948 -
The Donora smog was a thick cloud of air
pollution formed above the industrial town of Donora,
Pennsylvania killing 20 people and causing
sickness in 6,000 of the town's 14,000 people. The
Donora smog alerted the public to the deadly effects of
air pollution and the dangers of ozone and urban smog.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1949 -
The first known
dioxin exposure incident, in a Nitro, West Virginia
herbicide production plant. Dioxin was extensively used
by the US during the Vietnam War. It was known as Agent
Orange.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1955 -
The Air Pollution
Control Act of 1955 was passed, first Federal
legislation addressing air pollution, to provide federal
research relating to air
pollution control.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1960's -
The
Hippie Counterculture emerged in which young people rejected
mainstream American life that was dominated
by materialism and consumerism, and turned to
a freer lifestyle, living closer the nature - hence the
term 'Flower Power'.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1961 -
The World Wildlife
Fund (WWF), an international organization for the
conservation, research and restoration of the natural
environment, was established in Switzerland.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1962 -
There was a
resurgence of public interest in Environmentalism when a
book called 'Silent Spring' was published by Rachel
Carson. 'Silent Spring' addressed the widespread and indiscriminate
pesticide poisoning of man and nature and man resulting in a
public outcry for direct government action.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1963 -
President Lyndon
B. Johnson added the environment to his legislative
programs and passed the Clean Air Act of 1963
to provide funding for the research and the cleanup of
air pollution.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1967 -
The Air Quality
Act of 1967 was an amendment to the Clean Air Act of
1963. The 1967 amendment put primary responsibility of
addressing air quality in the hands of the state and
local government, but not at national level
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1968 -
Morton Hilbert, an
environmentalist and professor of public health
organized the Human Ecology Symposium, an environmental
conference for students to learn from scientists about
the effects of environmental degradation on the health
of humans.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1969 -
The Cuyahoga River
Fire disaster occurred in 1969 when the Cuyahoga River,
in Cleveland Ohio polluted from decades of industrial
waste and toxic garbage, caught fire
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1969 -
The 1969 Santa
Barbara oil spill resulted in public outrage at
the devastating environmental effects of the crude spill.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1969 -
The catastrophic Santa Barbara
oil spill, together with the success of the "teach-ins" held by
Vietnam War protestors on U.S. college campuses, inspired Senator Gaylord Nelson,
Representative Pete McCloskey and Morton Hilbert, to
organize a large-scale demonstration on behalf of the environment
which came to be known as "Earth Day".
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1970 -
The first "Earth Day" was held
on April 22, 1970 as an environmental "teach-in" that "brought 20
million Americans out into the spring sunshine for peaceful
demonstrations in favor of environmental reform."
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1970 -
The massive public response to the first Earth Day put
the environment on the political agenda and an extension
to the Clean Air Act was made in 1970 aimed at phasing
out leaded gas by the mid-1980s.
Continued...
Earth Day History Timeline of Main Dates and Events
The History of
Earth Day
The History of Earth Day
dates back many years and was inspired by a series of numerous and
disastrous events that caused significant harm to the planet and our
environment. The following fact
sheet contains interesting facts, timeline and information on
Earth Day
for kids.
Earth Day History Timeline of Main Dates and Events
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1970 -
The Clean Air Act of 1970 was designed to control air
pollution on a national level, moving far more
aggressively to regulate air quality at a pace
acceptable to public demands. The Clean Air Act of 1970
established National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
to curb pollution.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1970 -
The Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) was authorized via an executive
order submitted to Congress on July 9, 1970 by President
Nixon and the EPA was established on December 2, 1970.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1970 -
The Environmental advocacy group,
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), was founded.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1970 -
Pollution and the
Death of Man, an ecological and philosophical work by
the American author Francis A. Schaeffer, was published
in 1970
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1971 -
Greenpeace is
founded and begins campaigning against whaling , global
warming and nuclear power
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1972 -
Congress passes
the Clean Water Act, limiting pollutants in rivers,
lakes and streams. The Marine Protection,
Research, and Sanctuaries Act (also known as Ocean
Dumping Act) is also passed.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1972 -
The first photograph of the whole
illuminated Earth is taken from space by Apollo 17 and
the world marvels at the famous "Blue Marble"
photograph.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1973 -
Congress passes the Endangered
Species Act to protect animals and their ecosystems.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1979 -
The
Three Mile Island
Accident on March 28, 1979 was a
partial nuclear meltdown that resulted in the release of
unknown amounts of radioactive gases and radioactive
iodine into the environment.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1982 -
The Nuclear Waste
Policy Act of 1982 was passed establishing a
comprehensive national program for the safe, permanent
disposal of highly radioactive wastes.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1989 -
The ecological disaster known as
the
Exxon Valdez oil spill
occured on March 24, 1989 when the Exxon Valdez oil
tanker spilled 10.9 million gallons of crude oil in
Prince William Sound, Alaska. The catastrophic oil spill
resulting in the deaths of seabirds, fish, sea otters,
harbor seals, eagles, and orca whales and led to the
1990 Oil Pollution Act.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1990 -
Amendments to the Clean Air Act in 1990, during the
presidency of George H Bush focused on reducing air
pollutant emissions and the continuing concerns about
air pollution.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1992 -
Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to
recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for
the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1994 -
The first
genetically modified food crop was released to the
market and remains a strongly controversial
environmental issue to the present day.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1995 -
1995: Gaylord
Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in
honor of his environmental work.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
1997 -
NASA’s
Earth Observing System launched a series of artificial
satellite missions and scientific instruments in Earth
orbit designed for long-term global observations of the
land surface, atmosphere, biosphere and oceans of the
Earth.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
2000 -
Approximately 180 countries
participated in Earth Day 2000
Earth Day
History Timeline:
2005 -
The founder of Earth Day, Gaylord
Nelson, died at the age of 89 on July 3, 2005.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
2006 -
Former U.S. vice
president Al Gore released 'An Inconvenient Truth', a
documentary that described global warming and Gore was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for this and related
efforts.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
2014 -
The Elk River
chemical spill occurred on January 9, 2014 from a
Freedom Industries facility into the Elk River,
Charleston, West Virginia.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
2015 -
On June 18, 2015
Pope Francis issued an extraordinary environmental
statement in Rome following his beliefs that there are
significant ecological problems today and that pollution
and climate change need to be addressed.
Earth Day
History Timeline:
Present -
Earth Day has become a worldwide
holiday celebrated by over 1 billion people.
Earth Day History Timeline of Main Dates and Events
Facts
about
Earth Day:
For visitors interested in the Earth Day also refer to the following articles
on the
Clean Air
Act and the
Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). Test your knowledge with our
Fun Earth Day Quiz with
Questions and Answers.
Earth Day History
●
Interesting Facts about Earth Day history for kids and schools
●
Summary of the Earth Day in US history
●
Facts about the Earth Day History
●
History and Origins of Earth Day
●
Fast, fun, facts about Earth Day
history for kids
●
History Timeline of Earth Day
● Earth Day history for schools,
homework, kids and children |
