by Julie Spaur

Created on: April 11, 2009

Earth Day is celebrated each year and has been since 1970. The holiday is listed on the American calendar as April 22. However, there is a disagreement of who the original founder of Earth Day really is. Some say that the original Earth Day, established by peace activist John McConnell, is celebrated in March on the Spring Equinox every year, was the Earth Day for the planet, and that the day established by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, which is celebrated on April 22, was the Earth Day for the politicians.

The March Earth Day was created by peace activist John McConnell. McConnell's interest in the earth's welfare had started years before in 1939 while he was working at a plastics factory. He became concerned about how much the manufacture of plastic was harming the earth. From that moment on, he became an advocate for protecting the earth's ecology.

He moved from his home state of Iowa to California and was involved in various movements promoting peace and love to all. In the late 1960's and early 70's he again became further interested in the environment when he saw a picture of the earth on the cover of Life magazine. He ended up taking the image and creating a flag that is still today known as the "Earth Day Flag.

In September of 1969, he proposed the idea of Earth Day to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. They were enthusiastic about the idea, and the first worldwide Earth Day was celebrated on March 21, 1970 in San Francisco, the City of Saint Francis, patron saint of ecology. Later in the year, Mr. McConnell obtained the support of U.N. Secretary General U Thant to declare Earth Day a global holiday that was to be celebrated on the March Equinox every year. Since 1971, the ringing of the United Nations Peace Bell at the moment of the March Equinox has become a global tradition.

Senator Gaylord Nelson (Democrat-WI) first got the idea for Earth Day in 1962. He had been concerned for some time that the state of the environment was "simply a non-issue" for politicians and the public alike. In November of 1970, he had an idea that would bring the environment to the both publics and politicians attention. He suggested to President Kennedy that they go on a national conservation tour. The president liked the idea and in September of 1963, he went on a 5 day tour to 11 states to discuss the subject of conservation. For a number of reasons, the tour did not bring conservation to the forefront as Nelson had hoped, but the idea had been presented and the

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