The History of Earth Day
A comprehensive look at the evolution of Earth Day from its 1970 origins to a global environmental movement.
Earth Day is celebrated one each spring to promote environmental protection and awareness.
Celebrating its 56th year, this year’s Earth Day theme, “Our Power, Our Planet,” calls for people worldwide to unite behind renewable energy and promote clean electricity.
When is Earth Day?
Earth Day falls on April 22 every year. This year, it falls on a Wednesday.
The day – created to bring communities together to celebrate nature and educate the public on critical environmental issues – has been celebrated for decades but it is not a federally-recognized holiday, according to Congress.
What are the origins of Earth Day?
The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 when 20 million people went to inaugural events at schools, universities and other public areas around the country, according to the Library of Congress’s website.
In 1969, Democratic U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin proposed a series of “teach-ins” at university campuses to raise awareness of environmental threats. He was joined by Congressman Pete McCloskey (R-CA) and activist Denis Hawyer, according to the World Economic Forum. They they wanted to create a national movement that extended beyond students and academia.
McCloskey, a pro-environment, anti-war California Republican who co-wrote the Endangered Species Act and co-founded Earth Day, worked to pass the Clean Air Act in 1970. The Environmental Protection Agency was created the same year after the public demanded cleaner water, air, and land as more disasters caused by climate change and pollution impacted the country.
How many countries celebrate Earth Day?
In 1990 – the 20th anniversary – Earth Day went global, with more than 140 nations participating, according to The History Channel.
Earth Day Network (EDN), a nonprofit organization that coordinates Earth Day activities, said that currently the organization collaborates with more than 1 billion people from 192 countries for Earth Day activities, making it the “the largest secular day of protest in the world.”
Contributing: USA Today network
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