With a photo of Earth taken from space aboard Apollo 11, John McConnell, an American environmental activist, created the flag that became the universal symbol known as the Earth Flag. To raise individual and international support for the care of planet Earth, McConnell proposed Earth Day, which was embraced and followed by a Proclamation of Earth Day for the city of San Francisco. On March 21, 1970, the first Earth Day, as proposed by McConnell, was celebrated in San Francisco.
Meanwhile, massive preparations were underway, led by Gaylord Nelson, an American Senator from Wisconsin, who proposed the first national environmental protest to shake the political world and put environmental issues on the national agenda.
On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, gathered in parks and auditoriums to demonstrate the need for a healthy and sustainable environment. Denis Hayes, the national coordinator, and his team organized massive popular meetings from coast to coast. Thousands of schools and universities organized protests against environmental degradation, and environmental, Republican, Democratic, agricultural, and labor leaders united for a common cause, leading to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the acceptance of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.
Since 1990, when the Earth Day Network was created by Denis Hayes to promote Earth Day through an international network of organizations, Earth Day has become the most celebrated event in the world, commemorated by more people than any other secular, religious, or national day on planet Earth. The official date to celebrate Earth Day became April 22, replacing the original date for the other Earth Day previously proposed by John McConnell.
In 2009, with Resolution A/RES/63/278, the United Nations General Assembly declared April 22 as International Mother Earth Day, and the Earth Day Network assumed global coordination of Earth Day.
