Today in Hazmat History – January 24

Hazmat History

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.


January 24, 2003

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security officially began operating. President George W. Bush named Tom Ridge to serve as its first secretary.

January 24, 1961

A B-52 bomber carrying two nuclear bombs broke up in mid-air, dropping its nuclear payload in Goldsboro, N.C. Five of the six arming mechanisms on one of the bombs were activated, causing it to execute many of the steps needed to arm it for detonation. The good news: the bombs did not go off, but they almost did.

January 24, 1939

An earthquake (8.3-magnitude) struck Chile, where 50,000 people died. Earthquakes in Chile are relatively common since the entire country lies along an underground fault. Chile averages at least one major tremor every three years.

January 24, 1848

Gold was discovered along the banks of Sutter’s Creek, forever changing the course of history in the American West. Sutter’s Creek is a tributary to the south fork of the American River in the Sacramento Valley east of San Francisco, Calif.

January 24, 1828

Ferdinand (Julius) Cohn, a German naturalist and botanist, was born. He is considered one of founders of bacteriology and is known for his studies of algae, bacteria, fungi, insect epidemics, and plant diseases. From his early studies of microscopic life, he developed theories of bacterial causes of infectious disease and recognized bacteria as plants. He showed that protoplasm was almost identical in plant and animal cells. Cohn gave Robert Koch a position in his lab and aided him in preparing Koch’s famous work on anthrax.

January 24, 1800 

Edwin Chadwick, an English social reformer, was born. As a public health official, he directed that more sophisticated health statistics should be collected. His survey detailed horrific working and living conditions in England at the time. The report linked epidemic disease, especially related to fever diseases (typhoid, typhus and cholera) to filthy environmental conditions. Privy vaults, shallow urban wells, and piles of garbage and animal excrement in the streets were all related to the increases in disease.


Historical hazardous materials management events are posted 365 days a year at this LinkedIn discussion group.

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