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.
October 10, 1967
The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, which is usually called the Outer Space Treaty became effective. It is regarded as one of the most significant law-making treaties concluded in the second half of the 20th century. The treaty was signed by the United States and Soviet Union and limits use of the moon and other celestial bodies exclusively to peaceful purposes and expressly prohibits their use for military purposes.
October 10, 1963
The Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty became effective. It was signed by the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union. Its official title was the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space, and Under Water. Due to disagreements concerning on-site inspections, agreement on a comprehensive ban was not reached. Negotiators turned their attention to the limited ban, prohibiting tests in the atmosphere, outer space and beneath the surface of seas (but not yet those underground).
October 10, 1957
A nuclear reactor core in Cumbria, England used to make weapons-grade plutonium was shut down after releasing substantial radioactive contamination into the surrounding area. Water was pumped into the destroyed reactor core and the air supply to the reactor was shut off to extinguish the Windscale Fire. As a precautionary measure, milk from surrounding farming areas was destroyed.
October 10, 1933
Waldo Semon, American inventor, received a patent for the process of making plasticized Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC). Today, PVC is the world’s second most used plastic (best known simply as vinyl). PVC plastic was initially a polymer that was hard and difficult to form into useful articles. Semon invented a way to make it in a rubber-like form. His process consisted of dissolving a polymerized vinyl halide at an elevated temperature in a substantially non-volatile organic solvent and allowing the solution to cool, whereupon it sets into a stiff rubbery gel.
October 10, 1933
The first synthetic detergent (Dreft), a replacement for laundry soap, went on sale. Soap had been used to clean clothes for nearly 2,000 years but had poor performance in hard water. Researchers created special two-part molecules, one end of which pulled grease and dirt out of clothes while the other clung to water, suspending dirt until it could be washed away. These were a sodium alkyl sulfate made from chlorosulfonic acid and a fatty alcohol, called synthetic surface-active agents or synthetic surfactants for short. Dreft eliminated problems associated with soap and gently cleaned lightly soiled clothes. The discovery of detergent technology began a revolution in cleaning technology.
October 10, 1892
Earle Dickson, American inventor, was born. Finding his wife prone to kitchen accidents (cuts or burns), he frequently dressed her small wounds with cotton gauze and adhesive tape. He devised a way she could easily apply her own dressings. He prepared ready-made bandages by placing squares of cotton gauze at intervals along an adhesive strip and covering them with crinoline. Now all his wife had to do was cut off a length of the strip and wrap it over her cut. Wright was a cotton buyer at Johnson & Johnson, where his suggestion to make this a product became known as Band-Aids.
October 10, 1796
According to tradition, the metric system was born on October 10 (10/10). This date was chosen since it seemed to signify the base 10 way of using measurements.
October 10, 1770
Benjamin Wright, American engineer, was born. Wright first helped survey the Erie Canal route. Next, he was selected to help design and build it. Then he was named its chief engineer. Because he trained so many engineers on that project, Wright has been called the father of American civil engineering. He was later chief engineer during construction of the Erie Railroad.
October 10, 1731
Henry Cavendish, English chemist and physicist, was born. He was the first to determine the mass and density of Earth. Cavendish investigated the properties of hydrogen and carbon dioxide, including comparing their density to that of air. He showed that water was a compound and measured the specific heat of various substances. His manuscripts (published 1879) revealed discoveries he had made in electrostatics before Coulomb, Ohm and Faraday.
Historical hazardous materials management events are posted 365 days a year at this LinkedIn discussion group.
