History of Earth Day
In 1969, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson had the idea for Earth Day while reading about the student led anti-war movement, and after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. A day then became dedicated to protecting and preserving “Mother Earth” - April 22, 1970, and is credited as launching the modern environmental movement.
The inaugural Earth Day was so successful that both political parties embraced environmental awareness at the time. The Endangered Species Act, the National Environment Policy Act, and the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts all have their roots in the first Earth Day.
As a result, on the 22nd of April, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment.
Click here to read how the name ‘Earth Day’ came about.
* See more vintage images below.
Today, Earth Day has enlisted 22,000 partners in 192 countries to mobilize the environmental movement. Now over 1 billion people participate in Earth Day, making it the world’s largest civic observance.
In September of 2023, tens of thousands of climate activists around the world launched protests in the USA, Europe, Africa and southeast Asia. Their call was, and is, for an end to the burning of planet-warming fossil fuels, as Earth suffers from dramatic weather extremes.
The protests were driven by numerous youth-led, local and global climate groups and organizations, including Greta Thunberg's Fridays for Future movement.
What was going on in 1970, when Earth Day started?
The Beatles broke up. Let It Be was released as their final album a month later
Apollo 13 launched as the third mission to the moon, had an emergency, and safely returned to Earth
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty went into effect after ratification by 43 nations
President Nixon ordered a secret invasion of Cambodia by US and South Vietnamese troops
In 1970, all of the defendants of the Chicago Seven were acquitted of conspiracy, and five of them were convicted of inciting a riot at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968
National Guards kill 4 protesters at Kent State University in Ohio
