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The Cuyahoga River Fire Fuels America’s Environmental Movement

6/22/202615 min

June 22, 1969. The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio catches fire, sparking a movement to clean up the country’s polluted waterways. This episode originally aired in 2023.

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First 90 seconds
  1. Lindsay Graham· Host0:00

    History Daily is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy. Just drop in some details about yourself and see if you're eligible to save money when you bundle your home and auto policies. The process only takes minutes, and it could mean hundreds more in your pocket. So visit progressive.com after this episode to see if you could save. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. [instrumental music plays] It's the afternoon of November 1st, 1952, on a tugboat moored to the bank of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio. A crew of eight workmen toil under the afternoon sun. Sighing wearily, one of them sets his tools down and walks to the boat's edge. Disgust overcomes him, though, as he gazes at the murky waterway below, its surface covered in a thick layer of oil. The Cuyahoga River snakes through the heart of Cleveland, dividing the city in two. With factories lining its banks, the river has become a polluted, slow-moving sewer tainted by the waste of steel plants, oil refineries, and chemical works. Earlier this year, the situation grew worse after a leak at one of the area's biggest refineries spilled a tremendous amount of oil into the Cuyahoga. Now the workman stares at the thick slick it left behind,

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