Have you ever heard of Earth Day?

Apparently, Earth Day is held in spring in the Northern Hemisphere and in autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Its aim is to promote awareness and appreciation of the Earth’s environment. I thought we were supposed to appreciate the environment every day?

A strange fact about Earth Day is that it is celebrated twice! The United Nations celebrate it on the March Equinox, which is usually around the 20^th March. This day was founded by John McConnell and its purpose is to celebrate the sun being directly over the Earth’s equator.

The second Earth Day is celebrated on the 22^nd April and was founded in 1969 by politician Gaylord Nelson (see left). Senator Nelson stated that the 22^nd April 1970 was going to be a day celebrating the environment and promoting an environmental reform. Luckily for him, the day was a complete success.

It was celebrated in two thousand colleges and universities, ten thousand primary and secondary schools and hundreds of communities in the United States. Twenty million Americans came out to participate in peaceful demonstrations in favour of an environmental reform.

Many environmental laws were passed including the Clean Air Act and laws to protect drinking water, wild lands and oceans, thanks to the 1970 Earth Day. Furthermore, the United States Environmental Protection Agency was created after the movement.

The eco-awareness movement was going on before the 1970's movement as well. Rachel Carson, a natural history author, was inspired before the movement to write her book Silent Spring, which is about animals, birds and humans dying because a lack of care to the environment. Sounds like something I hear on the news nearly every week.

The results of the 1970 movement have made Earth Day popular word wide. It is observed by 175 countries and is run by a non-profit organisation called Earth Day Network. It is said to be the largest secular holiday in the world, with over half a billion people celebrating it every year.

So I just have one question...

Why haven’t I ever heard of it before then!?