Earth Day
As we celebrate Earth Day on 22 April every year, we tend to ignore the historical context behind the day itself. A series of events occurred before Earth Day came into being, these events mainly revolved around the United States. A US senator from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson inspired by the anti-Vietnam war in addition with massive California oil spill was adamant to launch a nationwide environment campaign.
Nelson along with Pete McCloskey and Denis Hayes formulated a campaign to address environmental issues on national media. The trio along with other campaigners selected April 22 to commemorate their environment campaign. As April 22 was between spring break and final exams, Nelson thought the day was appropriate.
Back in the day, almost 20 million Americans took the streets to demonstrate or rather advocate for a rather healthy and sustainable lifestyle. Earth day was a rare political alignment in the history of States where the day gauged support along the political spectrum. The year 1970 marked the formation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
As of today, the day is observed across 184 countries along with almost five thousand groups. In a time where climate conditions are deteriorating, Earth Day remains the largest secular observance in the world.