Modern Era · North America · Science

1962

Silent Spring published

1962

Rachel Carson's quiet book about pesticides and dying songbirds laid out a meticulous scientific case against DDT and the assumption that nature could absorb anything human beings dumped into it. Chemical companies tried to discredit her; a dying Carson, battling cancer, testified to Congress with calm precision. The modern environmental movement began with her sentences.

More from 1962 Modern Era

In context

Also in 1962 (5 other events on record)

Cuban Missile Crisis · North America · Politics
Algeria wins independence · Africa · Politics
Vatican II opens · Europe · Religion
First Beatles single · Europe · Culture
Andy Warhol shows Campbell's Soup Cans · North America · Culture

Before and after in North America

Before: 1961: Catch-22 published
After: May 3, 1963: Birmingham fire hoses and dogs

Before and after in Science

Before: April 12, 1961: Gagarin orbits the Earth
After: June 16, 1963: Valentina Tereshkova orbits

Era

Modern Era (1901–2000), one of 590 events from that era on Saeculum.

Sources

Wikipedia: Silent Spring