On May 7, 2004, marine biologist Richard Thompson publishes an article in the journal Science detailing the troubling amount of microscopic plastic fragments and fibers that he and his team have discovered in the world’s oceans and marine habitats. Thompson dubs the debris “microplastics” and questions whether these particles could release harmful chemicals and pose a danger to the environment.

Thompson’s paper, “Lost at Sea: Where Is All the Plastic?,” sparked a surge of interest in both scientific and public policy circles. He and other researchers have since sought to discover just how widespread microplastics are—and how harmful.

The tiny particles of plastic, which are less than 5 millimeters in size, have been discovered in everything from Arctic Sea ice to the depths of the Pacific Ocean. They have also been found in humans and a wide range of marine life and other animals. Exposure to these tiny pollutants is believed to cause respiratory and heart issues and prove toxic to other major organs and systems in humans.

The chemicals that make plastic versatile and durable are also what make it nearly impossible to get rid of.

Source: history.com

On May 7, 1800, the Indiana Territory was created by an organic act signed into law by President John Adams. It was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1800, to December 11, 1816, when the remaining southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Indiana¹.

The area that became the Indiana Territory was once part of the Northwest Territory, which the Congress of the Confederation formed under the terms of the Northwest Ordinance on July 13, 1787. Articles of Confederation (1777)

The Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777. This document served as the United States’ first constitution. It was in force from March 1, 1781, until 1789 when the present-day Constitution went into effect.

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Citation: Articles of Confederation; 3/1/1781; Miscellaneous Papers of the Continental Congress, 1774 – 1789; Records of the Continental and Confederation Congresses and the Constitutional Convention, Record Group 360; National Archives Building, Washington, DC.

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The Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777. This document served as the United States’ first constitution. It was in force from March 1, 1781, until 1789 when the present-day Constitution went into effect.

Source: wiki

Thankfully, and gratefully, Congress saw the chaos and created a new

0558 – The dome of the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople collapsed. It was immediately rebuilt as ordered by Justinian.

1274 – The Second Council of Lyons opened in France to regulate the election of the pope.

1429 – The English siege of Orleans was broken by Joan of Arc.

1525 – The German peasants’ revolt was crushed by the ruling class and church.

1663 – The first Theatre Royal was opened in London.

1763 – Indian chief Pontiac began all out war on the British in New York.

1789 – The first U.S. Presidential Inaugural Ball was held in New York City.

1800 – The U.S. Congress divided the Northwest Territory into two parts. The western part became the Indiana Territory and the eastern section remained the Northwest Territory.

1847 – The AMA (American Medical Association) was organized in Philadelphia, PA.

1898 – The first Intercollegiate Trapshooting Association meet was held in New Haven, CT.

1912 – Columbia University approved final plans for awarding the Pulitzer Prize in several categories.

1912 – The first airplane equipped with a machine gun flew over College Park, MD.

1915 – The Lusitania, a civilian ship, was sunk by a German submarine. 1,201 people were killed.

1926 – A U.S. report showed that one-third of the nation’s exports were motors.

1937 – The German Condor Legion arrived in Spain to assist Franco’s forces.

1939 – Germany and Italy announced a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.

1940 – Winston Churchill became British Prime Minister.

1942 – In the Battle of the Coral Sea, Japanese and American navies attacked each other with carrier planes. It was the first time in the history of naval warfare where two enemy fleets fought without seeing each other.

1943 – The last major German strongholds in North Africa, Tunis and Bizerte, fell to Allied forces.

1945 – Baseball owner Branch Rickey announced the organization of the United States Negro Baseball League. There were 6 teams.

1945 – Germany signed unconditional surrender ending World War II. It would take effect the next day.

1946 – Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corp. was founded. The company was later renamed Sony.

1951 – Russia was admitted to participate in the 1952 Olympic Games by the International Olympic Committee.

1954 – French Colonial Forces surrendered to the Vietminh at Dien Bien Phu after 55 days of fighting.

1954 – The United States and the United Kingdom rejected the Soviet Union’s bid to join NATO.

1958 – Howard Johnson set an aircraft altitude record in F-104.

1960 – Leonid Brezhnev became president of the Soviet Union.

1975 – U.S. President Ford declared an end to the Vietnam War.

1977 – Rookie Janet Guthrie set the fastest time on opening day of practice for the Indianapolis 500. Her time was 185.607.

1984 – A $180 million out-of-court settlement was announced in the Agent Orange class-action suit brought by Vietnam veterans who claimed they had suffered injury from exposure to the defoliant while serving in the armed forces.

1992 – A 203-year-old proposed constitutional amendment barring the U.S. Congress from giving itself a midterm pay raise was ratified as the 27th Amendment.

1994 – The Edvard Munch painting “The Scream” was recovered after being stolen 3 months earlier from an Oslo Museum. This version of “The Scream”, one of four different versions, was painted on paper.

1996 – The trial of Serbian police officer Dusan Tadic opened in the Netherlands. He was later convicted on murder-torture charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

1997 – A report released by the U.S. government said that Switzerland provided Nazi Germany with equipment and credit during World War II. Germany exchanged for gold what had been plundered or stolen. Switzerland did not comply with postwar agreements to return the gold.

1998 – Daimler-Benz bought Chrysler Corp. for close to $40 billion. It was the largest industrial merger on record.

1998 – Residents of London voted to elect their own mayor for the first time in history. The vote would take place in May 2000.

1999 – A jury ruled that “The Jenny Jones Show” and Warner Bros. were liable in the shooting death of Scott Amedure. He was killed by another guest on the show. The jury’s award was $25 million.

1999 – Jerry Moss received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1999 – In Belgrade, Yugoslavia, three Chinese citizens were killed and 20 were wounded when a NATO plane mistakenly bombed the Chinese embassy.

1999 – In Guinea-Bissau, the government of President João Bernardo Vieira was ousted in a military coup.

2000 – Russian President Vladimir V. Putin named First Deputy Premier Mikhail Kasyanov as premier.

2003 – In Washington, DC, General Motors Corp. delivered six fuel cell vehicles to Capitol Hill for lawmakers and others to test drive during the next two years.

2003 – Roger Moore collapsed during a matinee performance of the Broadway comedy “The Play What I Wrote.” He finished the show after a 10-minute break. He was fitted with a pacemaker the following day.

2013 – The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 15,056.20. It was the first time it had closed over 15,000.

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While not in China itself, the Chinese Exclusion Act, passed by the U.S. Congress on May 6, 1882 and signed by President Chester A. Arthur, was a landmark event tied to Chinese–American relations Britannica+1.

It was the first major U.S. law to explicitly ban immigration for a specific nationality — Chinese laborers — and prohibited them from entering the United States for ten years. The act also barred Chinese immigrants from naturalization and imposed strict requirements for those already in the country National Archives+1.

Background

• Economic and racial tensions: Anti-Chinese sentiment in the U.S., especially in California, was fueled by competition for jobs, resentment over wages, and cultural stereotypes Office of the Historian.
• Historical context: Chinese laborers had migrated to the U.S. since the 1848 California Gold Rush, working in mining, railroads, and agriculture. Many sent remittances back to China, but faced discrimination and legal restrictions History+1.
• Diplomatic impact: The exclusion act strained U.S.–China relations, as it was the first time federal law targeted an ethnic group for immigration control Office of the Historian.

Effects

• On Chinese communities: Families were separated, businesses closed, and Chinatowns became centers of cultural preservation Britannica.
• On U.S. immigration policy: It marked a shift from open immigration to restrictive quotas, later extended by the Geary Act (1892) and made permanent in 1902 National Archives.
• Long-term: The act was repealed in 1943 with the Magnuson Act, allowing an annual quota of 105 Chinese immigrants, but quotas for other nationalities had already been established Britannica+1.

Summary

In 1882, China saw diplomatic moves like the China–Korea Treaty, while the United States enacted the Chinese Exclusion Act — a pivotal moment in U.S. immigration history and a turning point in Sino–American relations. Both events reflected the broader 19th-century tensions between economic competition, racial prejudice, and the limits of immigration policy.

Stop AAPI Hate, nonprofit organization that works to protect the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in the United States. It tracks and analyzes acts of violence and discrimination against the AAPI community to understand where disturbances are occurring and who is being targeted. This analysis helps to raise national awareness about racism.

Source: Britannica