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.
July 26, 2008
California became the first state to pass a law banning the use of trans-fats from being used by restaurants and retailers. Trans-fats have been linked to heart disease. The ban could reduce heart attack deaths by up to 19% a year.
July 26, 1974
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the artificial sweetener Aspartame. While working on an ulcer drug, James Schlatter, an American scientist, discovered that a mixture of two amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalamine, had a sweet taste. By weight, it was about 200 times sweeter than sugar, with very few calories. Today, G.D. Seale markets it as NutraSweet, a low-calorie artificial sweetener without the bitter aftertaste of saccharin.
July 26, 1943
Smog in Los Angeles was so bad that downtown visibility was reduced to three blocks. A butadiene manufacturer was initially blamed and temporarily closed. It soon became clear that this was not the primary source of smog. Investigators determined the smog was caused by locomotive smoke, diesel truck fumes, back-yard rubbish burning plus mountain topography, stagnant winds and atmospheric temperature inversions. In 1947, the Los Angeles County Air Pollution Control District was created.
July 26, 1931
Grasshoppers devastated millions of acres of cropland in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. The swarms were so thick they blocked out the sun. Cornstalks were eaten to the ground, leaving fields completely bare. The good news is that since the 1930s, these swarms have not been seen in the United States. The bad news is that North Africa and the Middle East continue to experience problems with massive insect swarms.
July 26, 1926
Joseph Engelberger, American engineer, was born. He helped develop the first industrial robot in the U.S. He is referred to as the “Father of Robotics.” In 1962, he installed the first industrial robots for automobile assembly.
July 26, 1895
Marie Sklodowska (Curie), a Polish graduate physics and chemistry student,
married Pierre Curie, a French physicist who was a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism and piezoelectricity. In 1896, Marie Curie began investigating Henri Becquerel’s discovery of uranium radioactivity as a research topic for her doctoral thesis. Pierre and Marie were later awarded a Nobel Prize. In 1897, Madam Curie gave birth to a daughter, Irène, who later married Frédéric Joliot. Irène Joliot-Curie and her husband continued their family’s radioactivity research. Irène and Frédéric also received a Nobel Prize.
July 26, 1799
Isaac Babbitt, American inventor, was born. He developed an alloy (89% tin,
7% antimony and 4% copper) that was widely used in friction-reducing Babbitt bearings.
Historical hazardous materials management events are posted 365 days a year at this LinkedIn discussion group.