Burn On, Big River: The 1969 Cuyahoga River Fire

(I wrote this summer 2013 to finish my high school science lab credits. I picked marine biology, since math is far from my long-suit and marine biology had basically none. I had to write two papers about any topic relating to marine biology. One paper was about the effect of Asian Carp in the United States and the other was about the time the Cuyahoga River caught on fire. I'm not very good at science, but do know that when a river catches on fire, there's something not quite normal about its environment.)

Burn On, Big River: The 1969 Cuyahoga River Fire

In the days of the early settlers, the Cuyahoga River in upper Ohio was clean and unpolluted, but the increasing industrialization of the area caused the river quickly to become dirty. At least thirteen times since the Industrial Revolution, the river has caught fire. Although the 1952 fire was the worst, it most famously caught fire in 1969. After the fire, songwriter Randy Newman wrote a song about it: “There’s a red moon rising on the Cuyahoga River rolling into Cleveland to the lake...Cleveland city of light...even now I can remember...’Cause the Cuyahoga River goes smokin’ through my dreams. Burn on, big river, burn on..." (http://www.upa.pdx.edu/IMS/currentprojects/TAHv3/Content/PDFs/Cuyahoga_River_Fire_1969.pdf).

Mr. Ellers after dipping his hand in the river

The river was very severely polluted at the point of the 1969 fire. Ohio is heavily populated by various industrial factories, which frequently used to expel wastes, such as paint, oil, gasoline, and metal, into the Cuyahoga River (http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/fenlewis/History.html). Several problems were associated with the polluted water, including the closing of beaches, loss of native organisms, and the lack of edible food for wildlife in the area (http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/aoc/cuyahoga/).

The Cuyahoga River most famously caught fire on Sunday, June 22, 1969 (http://www.cleveland.com/science/index.ssf/200 9/06/cuyahoga_river_fire_40_years_a.html). On that day, a reporter named Richard Ellers dipped his hand into the river and when he took it out, his hand was black with gelatinous goop. (http://www.cleveland.com/science/index.ssf/200 9/06/cuyahoga_river_fire_40_years_a.html). The fire was caused either by sparks from molten steel or a passing train. (http://www.cleveland.com/science/index.ssf/2009/06/cuyahoga_river_fire_40_years_a.html). Firemen in tugboats quickly appeared to put out the fire, which lasted for two hours (http://www.cleveland.com/science/index.ssf/2009/06/cuyahoga_river_fire_40_years_a.html).

a warning sign next to the river

To prevent further conflagrations, Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, which regulated what and how much waste could be put into the Cuyahoga River (http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/fenlewis/History.html). One provision of the Clean Water Act is that factories must have a permit to put waste of any sort into the water (http://water.epa.gov/aboutow/owow/programs/marinedischarge.cfm). Further, the Clean Boating Act, an amendment to the Clean Water Act, says that boaters may not discharge anything, including oil and broken equipment, into any waterway in the United States (http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/lawsguidance/cwa/vessel/CBA/about.cfm).

The Clean Water Act successfully expunged pollutants from the Cuyahoga River. It also brought cleanliness of water to the attention of various cities, even those who had relatively clean rivers. All though history, cities have dumped pollutants into water, particularly running water, as a way to keep trash and sewage off the streets. In small, nontoxic amounts, this can be a harmless thing to do, but when the amounts of trash and waste cause a river to catch fire, it becomes a problem. Clean water is necessary because polluted water can carry harmful bacteria much more easily than clean water (http://www.nrdc.org/water/). Further, the pollutants in the water can harm people and animals. Also, the Clean Water Act had the side effect of encouraging ordinary people find ways to keep from polluting water. For instance, properly disposing of cleaning products or using natural cleaners is a way to help keep water clean (http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/gsteps.asp). When one does not dispose of unnatural cleaners properly, the debris from them can eventually work into the water.

the Cuyahoga River today

Since the Clean Water Act, animals such as bald eagles, aquatic insects, and steelhead trout, which are quite sensitive to pollution, have been able to return to the river in recent years (http://www.nps.gov/cuva/forkids/the-cuyahoga-river.htm). Also, people are able to dip their hands in the water and have them come out clean. The river is a safe place to boat or swim without becoming ill from unnatural chemicals in the water.

Because of the Clean Water Act, Randy Newman will not be prompted to write another song about an inflamed river. The cartoon to the left demonstrates the progress made in cleaning the river in the forty years since the fire. Although the Cuyahoga River caught fire at least thirteen times since the 1800s, the problem of a flammable river was ignored until the 1969 fire. Alarmed by the fire, the government and ordinary citizens began to find ways to reduce pollution and discovered smarter ways to dispose of waste.

a timeline cartoon dealing with the Cuyahoga River

Bibliography

United States Environmental Protection Agency staff. “Cuyahoga River.” http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/aoc/cuyahoga/ 8/20/13

United States Environmental Protection Agency staff. “Marine and Ocean Discharges.” http://water.epa.gov/aboutow/owow/programs/marinedischarge.cfm 8/20/13

United States Environmental Protection Agency staff. “About the Clean Boating Act.” http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/lawsguidance/cwa/vessel/CBA/about.cfm 8/20/13

GRC and NASA staff. “History of the Cuyahoga River.” http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/fenlewis/History.html 8/20/13

National Park Service staff. “The Cuyahoga River.” http://www.nps.gov/cuva/forkids/the-cuyahoga-river.htm 8/20/13


Michael Scott. “Cuyahoga River fire 40 years ago ignited an ongoing cleanup campaign” http://www.cleveland.com/science/index.ssf/2009/06/cuyahoga_river_fire_40_years_a.html 8/20/13

The Timeline of the World

My big, on-going, history project is The Timeline of the World including every event I can find. The Timeline has just about everything imaginable on it.

Currently, it has filled one Word document to about 350 pages of size 12 Times New Roman font. I've begun another document, which will likely take the same amount of space. However, it might overflow into yet another document--I'm not sure yet.

I'm aiming to finish the first version of The Timeline by January 1, 2015. (I began it September, 2013.) By the first version, I mean that it is explained and covers enough history that I can let people read all of it. Until then, I'll post occasional updates and maybe some selections from it.

(Source)

The Investiture Controversy (paper)

I wrote this for a course a while ago. Because the school was Christian, I wrote the paper from a Christian viewpoint.

The Investiture Controversy

The Church has had many conflicts throughout the years. Probably the most important conflicts to know about are The Investiture Controversy (1059-1122), the Reformation and Counter-Reformation (1522-1563), and the Second Great Awakening (1800-1840). The Investiture Controversy will be discussed here.

The Investiture Controversy occurred from 1059 to 1122. It caused problems of great theological import, especially as regards the separation of church and state. Further, the Investiture Controversy made the office of Holy Roman Empire questionable as to its authority. After 63 years of arguments, the Concordat of Worms settled the dispute. Pope Gregory VII and Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV were the first instigators of the Investiture Controversy. A few years later, Pope Paschal II and King Henry I of England took great part in the conflict.

Pope Gregory VII issued a papal bull entitled In Nomine Domini. A papal bull is a document which is rather like the instructions a captain would receive upon setting sail. It gives detailed instructions for a specific occurrence. For instance, Exsurge Domine sentenced Martin Luther to death unless he recanted 41 items of his writings within 60 days. In Nomine Domini, which means “in the name of the Lord Jesus”, stated that the nobles would no longer be allowed to take part in the election of a pope. Instead, the College of Cardinals would be the electors; this system is still used today with Pope Francis to be the most recent pope elected by the College of Cardinals.

The change in the Church electoral system was needed because both ill-advised investiture of popes and simony had increased through the years. Simony is when one pays for one’s appointment to a Church office or for receiving the Sacraments. The first occurence of simony was documented in Acts 8:9-24, where Simon Magnus offered payment to St. Peter and St. John if they would make it possible for whomever was touched by Simon Magnus to receive the Holy Spirit. Simony was sometimes used to invest popes, bishops, or cardinals in the Middle Ages.

Pope Gregory VII made a further attempt in 1075 to keep the office of the papacy from sin. He did this by forming the Dictatus Papae (“Law of the Popes”), which is a conglomeration of the various edicts, papal bulls, and laws given by the previous popes and himself. (This is now called the Canon Law.) One of the items in the Dictatus Papae declared that the pope could depose the Holy Roman Emperor. Another item stated that the pope was the sole universal power. Both of these new institutes were officially and permanently established during the Third Lateran Council in 1179.

King Henry IV of Germany took great umbrage to these new laws and regularly went against them. For instance, he installed Tedald as the Bishop of Milan when there was still another bishop serving there. In an attempt to counter King Henry IV’s actions, Pope Gregory VII excommunicated him and deposed him of the kingship.

King Henry IV likely tried to counter Pope Gregory’s claims because although the Roman Catholic Church was the only church in the Western World, and thus had great protection over men’s souls, it did not have great protection over men’s temporal being. The kings, queens, and Holy Roman Emperors were the only ones who were fully equipped to protect the temporal body, but they were not equipped to protect the everlasting body.

At the Concordat of Worms (September 23, 1122), kings were allowed to appoint bishops with secular authority, which is called investing by the lance. Those bishops were authorities only in the territories governed by the king who invested the bishops. Any bishop appointed was to give honor and obedience to both the pope and the king under an oath of fealty. An oath of fealty was given by one person to another of higher rank. The lower person would swear upon an item such as a relic that he would defend the higher-ranking person and come to the other’s aid when needed.

After the Concordat of Worms, the separation of church and state became more pronounced. The Church no longer had direct authority over a ruler, though the ruler could still be excommunicated. Also, the state no longer had such great authority to appoint leaders of the Church. Though the centuries, the distinction between Church and state has become so large that there is barely even a tentative connection between the two.

During the Investiture Controversy, the breach of church and state became more pronounced. Pope Gregory VII and King Henry IV of Germany were the first two officials to start the controversy. When the controversy ended, the Church had less direct power of the state and the state less over the Church.

Introduction

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, history is a "tale, story, chronological record of significant events, a treatise presenting systematically related natural phenomena, an established record, a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events, events of the past."

Here, I will write about all sorts of history. The posts will be sporadic, since I am also a student and a job apart from historical research.

Sometimes, the events/people will be very well-known already, such as the signing of the Magna Carta, and others will not be, such as the life of Calvin Graham. Please remember that some parts of history are not appropriate for all ages. If I am writing about a topic that may be scary or not child-appropriate, I will put in a note at the beginning giving a warning. However, some posts will be for children, especially stories about honorable men and women.

I'll also add different odds and ends, like links and book suggestions, onto different pages. Have fun exploring!

For questions and comments, email recorderofthepast@gmail.com and I will respond as soon as possible.