Earth Day is an annual event, celebrated on April 22, on which
events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental
protection. It was first celebrated in 1970.
In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, peace activist John McConnell
proposed a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace, to first be
celebrated on March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern
hemisphere. This day of nature's equipoise was later sanctioned in a
Proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations. A month later a separate Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970.
Results of Earth Day 1970
The first Earth Day family had participants and celebrants in two
thousand colleges and universities, roughly ten thousand primary and
secondary schools, and hundreds of communities across the United States.
More importantly, it brought 20 million Americans out into the spring
sunshine for peaceful demonstrations in favor of environmental reform. It now is observed in 192 countries, and coordinated by the nonprofit Earth Day Network,
chaired by the first Earth Day 1970 organizer Denis Hayes, according to
whom Earth Day is now ,the largest secular holiday in the world,
celebrated by more than a billion people every year.
Environmental groups have sought to make Earth Day into a day of action
which changes human behavior and provokes policy changes.
The Earth Day name
According to Nelson, the moniker "Earth Day" was "an obvious and
logical name" suggested by "a number of people" in the fall of 1969,
including, he writes, both "a friend of mine who had been in the field
of public relations" and "a New York advertising executive," Julian Koenig.
Koenig, who had been on Nelson's organizing committee in 1969, has said
that the idea came to him by the coincidence of his birthday with the
day selected, April 22; "Earth Day" rhyming with "birthday," the
connection seemed natural
Other names circulated during preparations—Nelson himself continued to
call it the National Environment Teach-In, but national coordinator
Denis Hayes used the term Earth Day in his communications and press
coverage of the event was "practically unanimous" in its use of "Earth
Day," so the name stuck. The introduction of the name "Earth Day" was also claimed by John McConnell, see below under "Equinox Earth Day".
Much like 1970, Earth Day 2010
Much like 1970, Earth Day 2010 came at a time of great challenge for the
environmental community. Climate change deniers, well-funded oil
lobbyists, reticent politicians, a disinterested public, and a divided
environmental community all contributed to a strong narrative that
overshadowed the cause of progress and change. In spite of the
challenge, for its 40th anniversary, Earth Day Network reestablished
Earth Day as a powerful focal point around which people could
demonstrate their commitment. Earth Day Network brought 225,000 people
to the National Mall for a Climate Rally, amassed 40 million
environmental service actions toward its 2012 goal of A Billion Acts of
Green®, launched an international, 1-million tree planting initiative
with Avatar director James Cameron and tripled its online base to over
900,000 community members
Let's celebrate Earth day , and hope our earth will not be using by a dirty people hand..
source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day
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