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.
November 21, 2013
Every year on November 21, World Fisheries Day is celebrated throughout the world. It draws attention to overfishing and the need to protect sustainability of water resources. A United Nations study recently reported that more than two-thirds of the world’s fisheries have been overfished or are fully harvested, and more than one third are in a state of decline due to loss of essential fish habitats, pollution and global warming.
November 21, 2006
The US EPA ordered the DuPont company to offer alternative drinking water or treatment for those living near DuPont’s Washington Works plant in West Virginia, if the level of PFOA detected in drinking water is equal to or greater than 0.5 parts per billion. This measure sharply lowered the previous action level of 150 parts per billion. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), also known as C8 and perfluorooctanoate, is a synthetic, stable perfluorinated carboxylic acid and fluorosurfactant. One industrial application is as a surfactant in the emulsion polymerization of fluoropolymers. It has been used in manufacturing Teflon and Gore-Tex. PFOA persists indefinitely in the environment. It is a toxicant and carcinogen in animals.
November 21, 1974
Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act, overriding President Ford’s veto, allowing for full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the federal government. The Freedom of Information Act strengthened amendments in the Privacy Act of 1974 following President Nixon’s Watergate scandal. FOIA inquiries have information regarding hazardous materials and environmental violations readily available.
November 21, 1969
First permanent ARPANET link was established between UCLA and Stanford Research Institute. This revolutionary technology ultimately led to the creation of the modern Internet. By 1983, more than 300 computers were connected. Via world-wide-web, information regarding hazardous materials has become readily available.
November 21, 1968
Sheri Schroeder, who lived beside Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York, was born. It was Sheri’s physical problems at birth that prompted her mother to learn about the environmental impact of Love Canal. Sheri was born with a heart that beat irregularly and had a hole in it, bone blockages of the nose, partial deafness, deformed ear exteriors, and a cleft palate. Hooker Chemical, manufacturer of pesticides, plasticizers and caustic soda, used the abandoned canal to dispose of over 20,000 tons of hazardous waste residues, which leaked into local homes.
November 21, 1942
U.S. Army engineers completed the Alcan Highway, an overland military supply route to Alaska. Passing through the Yukon, the 1,500-mile roadway connected Dawson Creek, British Columbia with Fairbanks, Alaska.
November 21, 1916
A violent explosion on Britannic, sister ship to the Titanic, sank the ship in the Aegean Sea, where 30 people died. The ship’s hull was altered to make it less vulnerable to icebergs. It was mandated that there be enough lifeboats on board to accommodate all passengers, which had not been the case with the Titanic. In 1976, famed ocean explorer, Jacques Cousteau, found the Britannic lying on its side 400 feet below the surface of the Aegean. The cause of the explosion remains unknown, but many believe that Britannic hit an underwater mine.
November 21, 1877
Tom Edison announced his “talking machine” invention (phonograph). It was his first major invention.
November 21, 1847
Fire broke out aboard the steamship, Phoenix, on Lake Michigan within 17 miles of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The fire was first discovered under the deck, near the back end of the boiler. It soon spread in every direction through the ship, where 160 people either drowned or burned to death.
November 21, 1783
Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier and Marquis Francois Laurant d’Arlandes, French scientists, became the first men to fly. Using an untethered hot air balloon, they flew nearly 6 miles around Paris in 25 minutes, reaching an altitude of 300 feet. Ben Franklin was one of the spectators.
Historical hazardous materials management events are posted 365 days a year at this LinkedIn discussion group.
