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.
March 6, 1996
The US Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a lead-based paint disclosure rule, which ensures that families receive information to protect themselves from lead-based paint hazards. This information helps families make informed housing decisions to reduce their risk of exposure to lead hazards. This rule typically applies to housing built before 1978.
March 6, 1994
Biosphere 2, a totally enclosed ecosystem, began operation when a group of seven people from five countries started a two-year experiment in self-contained living. Their aim was to live within the structure, supported by several simulated types of ecosystems therein, to provide information which may be applied to solving ecological problems created by man. Biosphere 2 was built outside Oracle, Arizona.
March 6, 1987
An English Channel ferry capsized, killing 188. Poor safety procedures led directly to this deadly disaster. The ferry was designed to allow vehicles to quickly drive on and off. To save even more time, it was the crew’s policy to leave port with bow doors open and to close them as the ship was already moving, a practice that allowed a small, but normally inconsequential, amount of water into the ferry. On the fateful day, the ferry left port with the doors open while a person assigned to close them was asleep in a bunk. It was later revealed that this, too, was typical. As crew members frantically pounded the doors with hammers, water flooded into the cargo hold. The vehicles in the hold were tossed back and forth in the water. A sudden shift in weight caused the ship to tip to the port side. Within minutes, the ferry capsized.
March 6, 1950
Silly Putty was introduced by Peter Hodgson, an American marketing consultant, who packaged one-ounce portions of the rubber-like material in plastic eggs. It could be stretched, rolled into a bouncing ball, or used to transfer colored ink from newsprint. It was originally discovered in 1943 by James Wright, who combined silicone oil and boric acid at General Electric laboratories. He was researching methods of making synthetic rubber, but at that time no significant application existed for the material. However, it was passed around as a curiosity. Hodgson saw a sample, realized its potential simply for entertainment and coined its name for marketing it as a toy.
March 6, 1917
Harry Coover, American chemist and inventor, was born. He accidentally created Super Glue while investigating adhesive properties of cyanoacrylate monomers that needed neither heat nor pressure to permanently bond between various surfaces. Since 1963, it has been sold as Loctite Super Glue. Memorable advertising showed a car lifted by a crane using an attachment bonded with just a few drops. Its versatility extends to derivatives used for repairing arteries, veins, teeth and as a spray to seal open wounds of soldiers during combat in Vietnam.
March 6, 1896
Aspirin, brand name for acetylsalicylic acid, was patented in Germany by Friedrich Bayer & Company. The brand name came from “a” for acetyl, “spir” from the spirea plant (source of salicin) and the suffix “in,” commonly used for medications. Acetylsalicylic acid was originally made from chemicals found in the bark of willow trees. The active ingredient, salicin, was used for centuries in folk medicine, beginning in ancient Greece when Hippocrates used it to relieve pain and fever. Today, aspirin is the number-one drug sold worldwide.
March 6, 1879
Benton MacKaye, American forester and conservationist was born. Best known as the Father of the Appalachian Trail, MacKaye spearheaded the idea of creating a 2,000-mile townless highway footpath from Maine to Georgia. He advocated preserving cultural and recreational areas in an increasingly urbanized environment.
March 6, 1886
America’s first alternating current (AC) power demonstration plant began operation in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. George Westinghouse demonstrated transmission at 500 volts for 4,000 feet, with a step-down for lights in stores. It successfully showed the advantage of using transformers at the source for transmission at higher voltage, with decreased energy losses, for distances greater than was possible by Edison’s direct current ventures.
March 6, 1869
Dmitry Mendeleev, Russian chemist, published his preliminary version of the periodic table of the elements. In his final version (1871) he left gaps, foretelling that they would be filled by unknown elements. Mendeleev predicted the properties of three of those elements.
Historical hazardous materials management events are posted 365 days a year at this LinkedIn discussion group.
