Earth Day

Plans for the first Earth Day were announced in San Francisco at the UNESCO Conference on the Environment held in November 1969. Former US Senator Gaylord Nelson suggested that March 21, the first day of spring, be established as Earth Day for a nationwide teach-in on the environment. On April 22, 1970, an estimated 20 million people, 2,000 colleges and universities, 10,000 grammar and high schools   and 1,000 communities took part in the first nationwide demonstrations on environmental problems in the USA,

which marked the beginning of the world’s celebration of Earth Day. On the twentieth anniversary of that event, April 22, 1990, more than 200 million people in 141 countries participated in Earth Day celebrations. The activities were approved by the United Nations and since then April 22 of each year is celebrated as International Earth Day.