“On April 22, more than one billion people around the globe will participate in Earth Day 2012 and help Mobilize the Earth.” ~~ EarthDay.org ™.
Who would think Earth Day would also mark the modern environmentalist movement? It was April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day, that led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.
Earth Day is a national holiday created to celebrate the Earth and environment. The first Earth Day was April 22, 1970, and was a response to the environmental crisis at the time, which included extremely polluted water and air. The Environmental Protection Agency was created the same year as a result of activism and widespread popular support for cleaning up the environment. Children became very aware as many school programs brought about awareness of pollutants in the air and the importance of caring for the planet we live on. Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year. The Earth Day Logo, above right, became the Official Earth Week logo that was used as the backdrop for the prime time CBS News Special Report with Walter Cronkite about Earth Day beginning 1970 through 1996.
Over 20 million people participated that year, and this Earth Day is now observed on April 22 each year by more than 500 million people and several national governments in 175 countries. Ecology Flag, photo to the right, was created by cartoonist Ron Cobb in 1969.
Google Celebrates Earth day 2012 with an animated Flower-power Doodle on its home page, photo left.
Bing Celebrates Earth day 2012 with a picture of Nevada Solar One at sunrise in the Mojave Desert near Boulder City, Nevada, photo right.
Earth Day Timeline
1968 - Morton Hilbert and the U.S. Public Health Service organized the Human Ecology Symposium, an environmental conference for students to hear from scientists about the effects of environmental degradation on human health. This was the beginning of Earth Day.
1969 - John McConnell first introduced the idea of a global holiday called "Earth Day" at the UNESCO Conference on the Environment
1969 - The Ecology Flag was created by cartoonist Ron Cobb and published on November 7th in the Los Angeles Free Press, then placed in the public domain. The symbol is a combination of the letters "E" and "O" taken from the words "Environment" and "Organism," respectively.
1970 - The first Earth Day proclamation was issued by San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto on March 21, 1970. Nelson chose the date April 22nd in order to maximize participation on college campuses for what he conceived as an "environmental teach-in". He determined the week of April 19–25 was the best bet as it did not fall during exams or spring breaks. Also, it did not conflict with any religious holidays.
1971 - UN Secretary-General U Thant supported McConnell's global initiative to celebrate this annual event; and on February 26, 1971, he signed a proclamation to that effect, saying: “May there be only peaceful and cheerful Earth Days to come for our beautiful Spaceship Earth as it continues to spin and circle in frigid space with its warm and fragile cargo of animate life.”
1972 - United Nations secretary-general Kurt Waldheim observed Earth Day with similar ceremonies on the March equinox in 1972, and the United Nations Earth Day ceremony has continued each year since on the day of the March equinox (the United Nations also works with organizers of the April 22 global event).
1978 – American cultural anthropologist, Margaret Mead added her support for the equinox Earth Day, and declared: "Earth Day is the first holy day which transcends all national borders, yet preserves all geographical integrities, spans mountains and oceans and time belts, and yet brings people all over the world into one resonating accord, is devoted to the preservation of the harmony in nature and yet draws upon the triumphs of technology, the measurement of time, and instantaneous communication through space…”
1990 - The Earth Day 20 International Peace Climb was led by Jim Whittaker, the first American to summit Mt. Everest (many years earlier), and marked the first time in history that mountaineers from the United States, Soviet Union and China had roped together to climb a mountain, let alone Mt. Everest. The group also collected over two tons of trash (transported down the mountain by support groups along the way) that was left behind on Mount Everest from previous climbing expeditions. The master of ceremonies for the Columbia Gorge event was the TV star, John Ratzenberger, from "Cheers", and the headlining musician was the "Father of Rock and Roll," Chuck Berry.
2000 - Earth Day 2000 combined the ambitious spirit of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. This was the first year that Earth Day used the Internet as its principal organizing tool, and it proved invaluable domestically and internationally. Kelly Evans, a professional political organizer, served as Executive Director of the 2000 campaign. The event ultimately enlisted more than 5,000 environmental groups outside the United States, reaching hundreds of millions of people in a record 183 countries.[35] Leonardo DiCaprio was the official host for the event,[35] and about 400,000 participants stood in the cold rain during the course of the day.
2009 - May 5, 2009 editorial in The Washington Times contrasted Arbor Day with Earth Day, claiming that Arbor Day was a happy, non-political celebration of trees, whereas Earth Day was a pessimistic, political ideology that portrayed humans in a negative light.[60]
2012 - Google Celebrated Earth day 2012 with an animated Doodle on its home page; Bing Celebrated Earth day 2012 with a picture of Nevada Solar One at sunrise in the Mojave Desert near Boulder City, Nevada.
Earth Day Resources
Earth Day Network
The Canopy Project
Washington Post, Celebrating Earth Day around the world
History of Earth Day http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-history-movement
Voice of America, Earth Day Prompts Calls for “Green Acts
If you have additional resources please list them in comments and I will add to post. Thanks.
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