1750-1830

§ He began experimenting with new markets for coal, and his first development involved mixing coal with water and then distilling it to make coal tar, which he sold to the shipbuilders of Sunderland, who used it to make their boats watertight. § A by-product of this was that he noticed that when coal was boiled in water it gave off a gas. He connected the hollow stalks of a giant hemlock plant to his kettle, and soon had the gas running in "pipes" around his room. He made pinpricks in the pipes and lit the gas with a candle. § This event was probably the first time anywhere in the world that gas had been used for illumination. It was not until 1792 that William Murdock, of Redruth, Cornwall, patented the invention of coal gas lighting. § He devised an experiment with huge metal kettles boiling the coal and large pipes running the gas. Soon he had a large illuminating gas flare coming from a hole in a pipe. § "To extinguish this," wrote his nephew and eyewitness John Bailey, "he struck at it with his hat. The flame was driven inwards, the gas in the inside of the apparatus took fire as quickly as gunpowder and exploded with a report like a cannon, driving a wooden plug to a great distance and exhibiting a cylindrical body of fire several yards in length. The heavy cast-iron metal pumps were removed from their places. From this time he considered his project of lighting collieries and rooms with gaslights as very dangerous, and I record this experiment with a view that it may probably be a useful hint to those who are at present engaged in similar projects of lighting manufactories and great towns with a material so subject to explosion." o Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier writes "Remarks on the Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe and Planetary Spaces" for Annales de chimie et de physique in which he proposes the theory that the sun’s heat is partially trapped in the earth’s atmosphere like a giant glass jar -- the first scientific reference to global warming.
 * 1750’s – 1790’s**
 * **1750**
 * Typhus epidemic in London.
 * **1751**
 * Gin Acts - an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain; made the distillation of gin illegal in England.
 * Government regulated the sale of gin with an inconsistent taxation policy.
 * Politicians and religious leaders began to argue that gin drinking encouraged laziness and criminal behaviour.
 * These actions were unpopular with the working-classes and in 1743 resulted in riots in London.
 * The license fee and tax were significantly lowered within a few years.
 * The Gin Act of 1751 prohibited gin distillers from selling to unlicensed merchants, restricted retail licenses to substantial property holders, and charged high fees to those merchants eligible for retail licenses.
 * **1753**
 * Benjamin Thompson Count Rumford campaigns for lowering the cost of living, better living conditions for the poor, inexpensive homes with a cheap supply of heat and light, food for schoolchildren, soup kitchens and advocated public hygiene.
 * **1754**
 * James Lind publishes a Treatise on Scurvy; noted the benefits of citrus fruits and juices to prevent the disease.
 * **1760**
 * George Dixon experiments with the use of coal gas for lighting.
 * **1762 – 1769**
 * Benjamin Franklin tries to regulate waste disposal and water pollution.
 * **1767**
 * George Baker and Benjamin Franklin help solve the mysterious Devonshire Colic, which turns out to be lead poisoning: the Devonshire cider presses were lined with sheets of lead.
 * **1769**
 * Alexander von Humboldt feared that increasing deforestation would lead to continuous decrease in rainfall. This first scientific discussion about climate change as the result of human intervention was strongly influenced by the research Alexander von Humboldt and Jean-Baptiste Boussingault had undertaken when they investigated the falling water levels of Lake Valencia in Venezuela.
 * **1755**
 * Percival Pott notices a large occurrence of cancer in chimney sweeps.
 * **1779**
 * John Howard shows how diseases can be spread to the general prison population
 * **1784**
 * Benjamin Franklin notes that the switch from wood to coal had saved what remained of England’s forests and he urged France and Germany to do the same.
 * **1785**
 * Thomas Jefferson publishes __Notes on the State of Virginia__, which argues against the European superstition that the new continent had degenerate animals and plants.
 * **1789**
 * Benjamin Franklin donates money from his will to build freshwater pipelines to Philadelphia due to the link between bad water and disease. In a few years a quarter of the town is dead from yellow fever.
 * **1791**
 * the New York assembly closes the hunting season on the heath hen. Species is extinct by 1900.
 * **1792**
 * William Murdock (chief engineer with Boulton & Watt) first uses coal gas to light a, small room in Redruth, Cornwall; He improved the gas by passing it through water. This experiment is usually noted as the beginning of the manufactured gas industry, which created vast pools of toxic coal tar in thousands of European and American towns and cities. Although the industry took off in the 1830s, its environmental legacy is only beginning to be understood.
 * **1796**
 * Edward Jenner begins smallpox/cowpox inoculations.
 * **1798**
 * Thomas Malthus observes that plants and animals produce far more offspring than can survive and that man could very well do the same and create poverty and famine unless familial regulations were put into place.
 * **1799**
 * Manhattan Company formed to build water lines in New York City.
 * Phillipe Lebon becomes the first to illuminate a public building with gas.
 * 1800’s – 1830’s**
 * **1800**
 * Municipal sewer systems begin in London though the water is still contaminated.
 * **1804**
 * Pittsburgh official Presley Neville wrote "the general dissatisfaction which prevails and the frequent complaints which are exhibited, in consequence of the Coal Smoke from many buildings in the Borough, particularly from smithies and blacksmith shops..." The smoke affected the "comfort, health and... peace and harmony" of the new city. As in most other cities, the remedy of the age was to build higher chimneys.
 * **1812**
 * First gas lights were introduced in London by the Gas Light and Coke Company. While this practice expanded the residual coal tar would remain an environmental problem into the 21st century.
 * **1817**
 * US Secretary of the Navy begins to reserve forests producing hardwoods for naval stores.
 * **1818**
 * As a conservation measure, Massachusetts bans the hunting of robins and horned larks.
 * **1819**
 * British Parliamentary committee expresses concern that steam engines and furnaces "could work in a manner less prejudicial to public health."
 * **1820**
 * Jeremy Bentham writes The Constitutional Code, including proposals for reforming London medical assistance system and water, sewer and public works districts.
 * **1823**
 * James Fenimore Cooper writes The Pioneers, which contains the idea that humans should "govern the resources of nature by certain principles in order to conserve them."
 * **1824**
 * Farmer's Guide, published in Providence Rhode Island by Solomon and William Downs, discusses causes and remedies for erosion.