By Richard T. Cartwright, PE, CHMM, (IHMM, AHMP and APICS) Fellow. Richard died April 21, 2025; honoring the work he did with hazmat history is one small way to keep his memory alive.
The saying, “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it” is more than a cliché. It is a reminder that we must constantly be learning from the past. Here’s a look back at major historical events that happened today in the world of hazardous materials.
August 29, 2005
Hurricane Katrina (Category 5) made landfall near New Orleans. It was the worst natural disaster in U.S. history, causing more than 1,300 deaths and $150 billion in damage. One million people were displaced by this disaster.
August 29, 1982
An atom of a new element 109, Meitnerium (symbol Mt), was made by physicists in Darmstadt, Germany. It was made by bombing a target of Bi-209 with accelerated nuclei of Fe-58. After a week of target bombardment, a single fused nucleus was produced. The combined energy of the two nuclei had to be sufficiently high so that the repulsive forces between the nuclei could be overcome. This experiment demonstrated the feasibility of using fusion techniques as a method of making new, heavy nuclei.
August 29, 1962
The dangerous long-range side-effects of DDT and other pesticides was the subject of a press conference question to President John F. Kennedy. In his reply, he acknowledged Rachel Carson’s ground-breaking environmental book on this subject (Silent Spring) and stated that the government was taking a closer look at this. Eventually DDT was banned in the U.S.
August 29, 1949
The USSR successfully detonated its first atomic bomb. According to legend, the Soviet physicists who worked on the bomb were “honored” based on penalties they would have suffered had the test failed. Those who would have been executed by the Soviet government, if it failed to detonate were honored as “Heroes of Socialist Labor,” and those who would have been merely imprisoned were given “The Order of Lenin,” a slightly less prestigious award.
August 29, 1876
Charles Kettering, American engineer, was born. He invented the electric starter, car lighting, and ignition systems. He directed development of new automobile engines, quick-drying lacquer finishes, anti-knock fuels, and variable-speed transmissions.
August 29, 1866
The Mount Washington Cog Railway public demonstration was made by its inventor, Sylvester Marsh. The world’s first cog railway was completed to summit the highest peak in the northeast U.S. in 1869.
August 29, 1831
Michael Faraday, English scientist, demonstrated his first electrical transformer. He first wound a thick iron ring on one side with insulated wire that was connected to a battery. Next, he wound the insulated wire on the opposite side of the iron ring, which he connected to a galvanometer. He found that upon closing the battery circuit, there was a deflection of the galvanometer in the second circuit. Faraday was astonished to see the galvanometer needle jump in the opposite direction when the battery circuit was opened. He had discovered that a current was induced in the secondary when a current in the primary was connected and an induced current in the opposite direction when the primary current was disconnected.
August 29, 1749
Sir Gilbert Blane, Scottish physician, was born. As chairman of the British Navy Medical Board, he required a diet that included lemon juice on Navy vessels. This virtually eliminated scurvy. Blane improved sanitary conditions and developed the precursors to modern quarantine conditions.
Historical hazardous materials management events are posted 365 days a year at this LinkedIn discussion group.
