December 24

John Muir dies, Apollo 8 snaps a picture of an earthrise, and the polluted Boston Harbor becomes a political weapon against Michael Dukakis.

Mon, Dec 24 2012 at 5:00 AM

Dec. 24, 1914: John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club and inspiration for some of America’s most iconic National Parks, dies in Los Angeles at age 76.

Dec. 24, 1968: The three-man crew of the Apollo 8 spacecraft become the first to orbit the moon, and they send a Christmas Eve gift back to earth: The first-ever picture of an earthrise.

Dec. 24, 1991: Three years after a polluted Boston Harbor becomes a campaign weapon in George H.W. Bush’s Presidential campaign against Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, sewage dumping into Boston Harbor ceases.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

This feature is compiled by Peter Dykstra, an MNN contributor and publisher of Environmental Health News and The Daily Climate.

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