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 8, 1988
Stella Nickell, accidental overdose drug-tampering schemer, was convicted for murder. She put cyanide in Excedrin capsules in her husband’s bottle and in five additional bottles that she placed on store shelves in the Seattle area.
May 8, 1986
The Chernobyl nuclear reactor concrete encasement process began after a fire initiated during the power plant meltdown on April 26 was finally extinguished. About 84,000 people were evacuated from nearby residences.
May 8, 1961
The first practical sea water conversion plant opened in Freeport, Texas by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Saline Water. The plant was designed to produce 1 million gallons of water a day at a cost of $1.25 per 1,000 gallons. The large-scale evaporation method used then has since been replaced by reverse osmosis as scientific advances have produced special polymers suitable for use as filtering membranes.
May 8, 1952
The first American large coal hydrogenation chemicals plant opened in Institute, West Virginia. It was designed for converting coal into chemicals. Coal was pulverized and mixed with oil to form a paste, then converted with heat and pressure to combine with hydrogen gas to form liquid chemical intermediate products. Processing 300 tons of coal a day, its yield included cresols, higher phenols, naphthalene, and aromatic hydrocarbons.
May 8, 1950
Flash flooding in Nebraska occurred after 14 inches of rain fell; 23 people died. Intense short-term rain is deadly, especially in areas that are ordinarily arid. Hard, dry ground cannot absorb water quickly, allowing sudden and heavy storms to easily cause flash flooding. The majority of flooding deaths are from flash floods. Most of the fatalities are those who become trapped in their vehicles and drown.
May 8, 1916
Fort Douaumont (near Verdun, France) accidently exploded; 679 German soldiers died. Storage room chain-reaction grenade detonations caused nearby flamethrowers to also ignite.
May 8, 1886
A brain and nerve tonic containing extracts of cocaine as well as caffeine-rich kola nut was first sold at a soda fountain in Atlanta. It was invented by pharmacist John Pemberton, who mixed it in a 30-gallon brass kettle hung over a backyard fire. Pemberton later developed the beverage now known as Coca Cola.
May 8, 1794
Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist, was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution. He is regarded today as the father of modern chemistry. Lavoisier discovered that air consists of a mixture of two gases which he called oxygen and nitrogen. He also discovered the law of conservation of mass and devised a modern method of naming chemical compounds.
May 8, 1790
The French National Assembly decided to create a simple, stable, decimal system of measurement units. The metric system adopted prefixes: Greek for multiples and Latin for decimal fractions.
Historical hazardous materials management events are posted 365 days a year at this LinkedIn discussion group.
