22nd April is celebrated as Earth Day throughout the world. This day is associated with the birth of the modern environmental movement that started in the year 1970. In the present year of 2020, we celebrated 50 years of Earth Day. However, some of you might be interested to know more about the origin of this special day. Well, here we are going to highlight a few essential points about the history of Earth day.
Historical facts about Earth Day:
Two different annual observations are celebrated as earth day. They are intended to raise awareness about various environmental problems and inspire people to take action. Other than this general goal, these two events are unrelated. Although they were founded almost one month apart in the year 1970, both gained wide popularity around the world.
The first earth day: 21st March
The Earth Day in the United States is celebrated on 22nd April; however, one more celebration organized on the international level predates this by one month. The first Earth Day was celebrated on 21st March in the year 1970. It was a brainchild of an influential community activist and newspaper publisher, John McConnell. He presented the idea of Earth Day at the UNESCO Conference on Environment in 1969. The plan to celebrate this day was to remind people about their responsibility towards environmental safety.
The second earth Day: 22nd March
Before the celebration of the earth day, the Americans were consuming an excessive amount of leaded gas for their inefficient automobiles. Such activities started causing lots of air pollution, and it started threatening human health. A junior senator in Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson, was deeply concerned about environmental deterioration, and later in January 1969, many other activists also raised voice over the massive oil spill in California. With time, they recruited Denis Hayes as a young activist to raise awareness about this matter, and they choose 22nd April as the best day to ensure higher student participation. Since this day happened between the final exams and spring breaks of the students.
After recognizing the massive potential of this concept, Hayes created a national staff with 85 members who started promoting this event in different areas. With time, they also obtained the support of many other organizations. Later, the title of this day became Earth Day, and soon it seized the attention of national-wide media. The concept spread like wildfire, and people gave strong support to this idea.
Reports reveal that Earth Day inspired 20 million Americans, about 10% of the total population, and they started demonstrating the concept in the auditoriums, parks, and streets to raise awareness. Millions of students from universities and colleges joined this movement against environmental pollution. And slowly, various laws were created in favor of Earth Day and the objectives of this event.
In the 1990’s, Earth Day received recognition worldwide, and many other countries also started participating in this noble cause to save the planet. This movement has had a significant impact on clean energy and global warming. Moreover, it saved millions of lives around the world.
