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.
May 1, 2009
Hong Kong declared a public health emergency, following its first confirmed case of the Swine influenza A-H1N1 flu in the territory. To contain the spread of the virus, 300 hotel guests and staff were immediately quarantined for seven days after a guest was found to have the virus. In 2003, Hong Kong was struck by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS, which killed 299 people in the territory and rapidly spread to several countries. The government then was criticized for its weak and slow response to the unfolding crisis, which brought economic activity in the territory to a virtual standstill. This time, Hong Kong appears prepared for swine flu. It had stocked 20 million courses of the anti-flu drug Tamiflu, nearly three times its population of 7 million.
May 1, 1958
James Van Allen, American physicist, reported that two radiation belts containing high concentrations of electrically charged particles encircled the Earth.
May 1, 1956
Dr. Hajime Hosokawa, director of Chisso Chemical’s company hospital in Minamata, Japan, officially first reported an epidemic of a previously unknown disease affecting his patient’s central nervous system. This strange neurological disease stuck quickly, starting with cats, then older humans, then children and newborns. Uncontrolled twitching, convulsions and screaming were among the symptoms of mercury poisoning. What is now called Minamata disease was later found to be a bioaccumulation after dumping large quantities of waste mercury into the nearby bay.
May 1, 1924
Iodized table salt first went on sale in Michigan. It contained 0.01% sodium iodide as a dietary supplement to reduce incidence of goiter (major swelling of the thyroid gland).
May 1, 1900
Coal dust ignited inside a mine in Scofield, Utah, where 200 miners died. In the immediate vicinity of the blast, numerous miners were killed outright by the explosion. Miners working in an adjacent tunnel died from exposure to an excessive amount of carbon monoxide gas or “afterdamp.”
May 1, 1899
Bayer first introduced aspirin in powder form, in Germany. It had been discovered in 1897 by Bayer research scientist, Felix Hoffman. In addition to being a pain reliever, it was also found to be a fever reducer and anti-inflammatory. In 1915, aspirin was made available in tablet form.
May 1, 1893
Kapok (textile fiber) was first exhibited at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Kapok fiber was used for bed-filling, which had advantages of remarkable elasticity and lightness. The water- and decay-esistant fiber is obtained from the tropical kapok tree seeds. Before the development of synthetic fibers, it was used for stuffing, such as in lifejackets and for sound or heat insulation.
May 1, 1839
Count Chardonnet, French chemist and industrialist was born. He developed rayon, the world’s first commonly used artificial fiber. When it was first displayed, it was called Chardonnet silk. He was prompted by Pasteur’s study of diseases in silkworms to seek an artificial replacement for silk. His starting point was mulberry leaves, the food of silkworms. He turned them into a cellulose pulp with nitric and sulfuric acids and stretched it into fibers.
May 1, 1493
Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus, German-Swiss physician and alchemist, was born. He condemned medical teaching that was not based on observation and experience. Paracelsus established the use of chemistry in medicine, gave the most up-to-date description of syphilis and was the first to argue that small doses of what makes people ill can also cure them. He introduced chemical remedies to replace traditional herbal ones, influenced the development of medicine during the Renaissance and gave alchemy a wider perspective. Paracelsus saw illness as having a specific external cause rather than being caused by an imbalance of the fluids in the body (although he had an overall occultist perspective). He disputed that mental illness was caused by demons and linked goiter with minerals in drinking water. Note: Paracelsus was the original hazardous materials manager (historical CHMM 001).
Historical hazardous materials management events are posted 365 days a year at this LinkedIn discussion group.
