Happy Earth Day! The very first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970 and has grown today to include 1 billion people in more than 193 countries.
The creation of Earth Day was partially inspired by an environmental disaster in Santa Barbra, California. In January 1969, and oil well off the coast there blew out, spewing in excess of 3 million gallons of oil. This killed more than 10,000 birds, dolphins, seals, and sea lions. Reacting to this disaster, environmental activists were mobilized to create new regulations and encourage environmental education.
One of the biggest proponents of Earth Day was Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin. He was a tireless environmentalist, and when he arrived in Washington in 1963, his goal was to make the conservation movement part of the national discourse. He enlisted the help of a Harvard graduate student to head up the Earth Day project. They knew that to get the most traction, they’d need college students to be on board. So the date of April 22 was chosen because on most campuses, it falls between spring break and finals, and was far enough away from any religious holidays.
On the first Earth Day, there were a combination of rallies, protests, demonstrations, fundraisers, speeches, concerts, and more all across the U.S. Parts of New York City were shut down as 20,000 people went to Union Square to see Paul Newman and hear a speech by the mayor.
Earth Day was extremely effective, changing the public opinion on the importance of environmental protection and conservation. In the 1970s, tons of environmental legislation was passed, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Just 8 months after Earth Day 1970, President Nixon approved the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. Today, Earth Day is the most widely observed secular holiday in the world. Learn more here.