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.
February 6, 1959
Jack Kilby, American electrical engineer and Nobel Prize Laureate working for Texas Instruments, filed a patent on his invention of miniaturized electronic circuits. His method of producing integrated circuit chips revolutionized how computers, calculators and numerous other electronic devices are made. Kilby’s invention was a radical departure from prior efforts to pack components closer together to reduce the physical size of electronic circuits. His innovation was that all components of an electronic circuit are formed in or near one surface of a relatively thin semiconductor wafer.
February 6, 1936
In 1936, a Congressional subcommittee charged that a “grave and inhuman disregard” for human life occurred during construction of Hawks Nest Hydroelectric Tunnel in West Virginia. During construction, workers encountered a long section inside the tunnel of pure silica, which the workers were directed to mine for use in electro-processing steel. The workers were not given any masks or breathing equipment to use while mining, despite the fact that management wore such equipment during inspection visits. As a result of the exposure to silica dust, many workers developed silicosis, a debilitating lung disease. Many of the workers eventually died from silicosis, in some cases as quickly as within a year. The Congressional hearing placed the death toll at 476.
February 6, 1913
Mary Leakey, English archaeologist and paleoanthropologist, was born. Known as the “woman who found our ancestors”, Mary’s work in East Africa shed new light on human evolution. She made important fossil finds interpreted and publicized by her husband (noted anthropologist Louis Leakey). Her most spectacular find: three trails of fossilized hominid footprints 3.6 million years old. She discovered these in Tanzania, which showed man’s ancestors were walking upright at a much earlier period than previously believed.
February 6, 1886
Clement Winkler, German chemist, discovered the element germanium (atomic number 32). He discovered germanium in the mineral argyrodite. While analyzing the silver sulfide ore, Winkler found that all the known elements it contained amounted to only 93% of its weight. Tracking down the remaining 7%, he found a new element he called germanium (for Germany).
Historical hazardous materials management events are posted 365 days a year at this LinkedIn discussion group.
