By Richard T. Cartwright, PE, CHMM, (IHMM, AHMP and APICS) Fellow
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.
February 14, 1990
Perrier recalled 160 million bottles of sparkling water after trace amounts of benzene was found in some of their bottles.
February 14, 1989
Union Carbide agreed to pay $470 million damages after the hazardous materials (methyl isocyanide gas leak) disaster in Bhopal, India.
February 14, 1989
The first of 24 Global Positioning System satellites were placed into orbit around Earth. GPS revolutionized navigation, both at sea and on land, by providing position reports with unprecedented accuracy. Each satellite was placed in a specific orbit at a specific altitude to ensure that four or five satellites are always within range from any point on the planet. A GPS receiver picks up signals from satellites and trilaterates the data to fix their position.
February 14, 1961
Lawrencium (element 103) was first produced in Berkeley, Calif.
February 14, 1929
Alexander Fleming, Scottish bacteriologist and Nobel Prize Laureate, introduced his mold byproduct called penicillin to cure bacterial infections. His accidental discovery led to one of the great developments of modern medicine. Having left a plate of staphylococcus bacteria uncovered, Fleming noticed that a mold that had fallen on the culture killed many of the bacteria. He identified the mold as Penicillium Notatum, which is like what’s found on moldy bread.
February 14, 1911
Willem Kolff, an American physician and biomedical engineer, was born in Holland. He invented the artificial kidney machine and headed a team that invented and tested an artificial heart. In 1957, saw the first time a totally artificial heart was implanted in an animal’s (dog) chest. It was a pneumatic pump which kept the dog alive for 90 minutes. In 1982, the first fully artificial heart was implanted in a human patient under his supervision. It was designed by one of Kolff’s students, Robert Jarvik, who implanted the artificial heart. It kept patient Barney Clark alive for 112 days, thus proving viability of this procedure.
February 14, 1878
Julius Nieuwland, an American organic chemist, was born in Belgium. He collaborated with DuPont chemists in the polymerization of acetylene and the development of chloroprene, which in turn could be polymerized to make the first really successful synthetic rubber, neoprene. This was superior to rubber in its resistance to sunlight, abrasion and temperature extremes.
February 14, 1877
Greenleaf Whittier Pickard, an American electrical engineer, was born. His invention of the crystal detector was one of the first devices widely used for receiving radio broadcasts. This was a key component, until superseded by the triode vacuum tube, and later the transistor. His patent described it as “a means for receiving intelligence communicated by electric waves.” He was also one of the first scientists to demonstrate wireless electromagnetic transmission of speech. In 1899, he transmitted a spoken message over a 10-miles distance. In his study of the polarization of radio waves, he contributed to the development of the direction finder. He noted as early as 1908 that errors in reading radio compasses might be caused by buildings, trees and other objects.
February 14, 1869
C.T.R. Wilson, The Nobel Prize winning Scottish physicist, was born. He invented the Wilson cloud chamber, which was used to study radioactivity, X rays, cosmic rays, and other nuclear phenomena. His discovery was a method of rendering visible the tracks of such electrically charged particles. It is based upon the formation of clouds, which develop when sufficiently moist air is suddenly expanded, thus dropping the temperature below the dewpoint. Thereafter, vapor condenses into small drops, forming round dust particles, or even, an electrically charged atomic particle. The formation of droplets is so dense that photographs show continuous tracks of particles travelling through the chamber as white lines.
February 14, 1859
George Ferris, an American engineer, was born. In 1893, he invented the giant observation wheel for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
Historical hazardous materials management events are posted 365 days a year at this LinkedIn discussion group.
