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19781776 Club

Carter declares a federal emergency over a buried chemical dump under a Niagara Falls neighborhood

Backyards had turned to black trees and burst drums; 800 homes now sit atop 19,800 tonnes of Hooker Chemical's waste.

By 1977, families in the Love Canal section of Niagara Falls were reporting chemical odors, bursting waste drums, and children coming home from the schoolyard with burns on their hands. The land had been a Hooker Chemical dumping ground until 1952, then sold to the school board for one dollar and built over with homes and a school. In September 1978, President Jimmy Carter declared a federal emergency, opening the way for evacuation and cleanup. It was the first time federal disaster funds had been used for anything other than a natural disaster…

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More from August 7
1789

Congress hands the new army to a civilian department; Washington signs it into law

Five employees, one secretary at war, and the whole of the United States Army to run.
1794

Washington proclaims: pay the whiskey tax, or face 13,000 militiamen

Peace commissioners head west with one hand while the President musters an army with the other.
1959

A tumbling satellite over Mexico snaps the first picture of Earth from orbit

One week after launch, a 64-element scanner aboard Explorer 6 built the image one spot at a time.
19641776 Club
Morse and Gruening warn the chamber is signing off on a war without ever voting to declare one.
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More from Cold War America
1964

Senate breaks the longest filibuster in its history; civil rights vote is cleared

Robert Byrd's 14-hour, 13-minute speech closes 72 days of Southern obstruction, and cloture passes 71 to 29.
1966

Warren's court rules 5–4: police must tell suspects they may stay silent before questioning begins

Ernesto Miranda's kidnapping conviction falls; he had signed a "voluntary" confession without ever being told he could refuse to speak or call a lawyer.
1967

Thurgood Marshall takes the oath; the Supreme Court has its first Black justice

The Senate confirmed Marshall 69–11 on August 30, brushing aside sustained Southern objections; he is sworn in today, October 2.
1971

The Times begins printing the Pentagon Papers; four presidents, the documents show, misled the country on Vietnam

A 7,000-page classified Defense Department study reveals the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson administrations each obscured the true scope of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia.
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