1962: The publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, widely recognized as the catalyst of the modern environmental movement, details the dangers posed by excessive pesticide use.
1964: The passage of the Wilderness Act in the United States, which protects public lands that are “untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”
1969: The Cuyahoga River in Ohio is so polluted by oil and other chemicals that it catches on fire, prompting widespread concern about water pollution and eventually the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972.
1970: The creation of the Environmental Protection Agency by President Richard Nixon. Also, over 20 million participate in the first Earth Day on April 22.
