Earth Day - celebrated April 22 - is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the environment. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teaching event.
The United Nations celebrates an Earth Day each year on the March equinox, which is often March 20, a tradition which was founded by peace activist John McConnell in 1969.
Senator Nelson chose the date of April 22nd in order to maximize participation on college campuses for what he conceived as an environmental "teach-in". This date did not fall during exams or spring breaks and did not conflict with religious holidays such as Easter or Passover. More students were likely to be in class, and there would be less competition with other events mid-week, so he chose Wednesday, April 22.
When asked whether he had purposely chosen Lenin's 100th birthday, Nelson explained that as a year had only 365 days a year and more than 3.7 billion people in the world, every day was the birthday of ten million living people. “On any given day, a lot of both good and bad people were born,” he said. “A person many consider the world’s first environmentalist, Saint Francis of Assisi, was born on April 22.“[ "The Man from Clear Lake: Earth Day Founder Gaylord Nelson", University of Wisconsin Press]
April 21 was the birthday of John Muir, who founded the Sierra Club.
April 22 is also the birthday of Julius Sterling Morton, the founder of Arbor Day which was started in 1872. Arbor Day became a legal holiday in Nebraska in 1885, to be permanently observed on April 22.
Learn more on Wikipedia or Take Action at Earth Day Network.
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