First Earth Day observed in 1970 two line

Twenty million people took part in the first event.

YOUNGSTOWN — It was a former United States senator, concerned about the lack of national focus on environmental issues, who came up with the idea for Earth Day, an annual date to celebrate the Earth and the environment.

The late Gaylord Nelson, who also served in the Wisconsin state senate and as governor of that state, said he’d been looking for some way to focus the American conscience on the environment for years before getting involved with President John F. Kennedy’s 11-state conservation tour in 1963.

That effort led to what eventually became the first Earth Day in 1970, an idea that caught on quickly once Nelson announced his plans in late 1969.

Nelson, who died in 2005, was always passionate about the environment. He said the Earth Day concept was organized around creating a grass-roots movement to do something to protect it.

The response from the public was immediate and overwhelming, and estimates put the first Earth Day celebration at 20 million participants nationwide.

Today, most colleges and many schools across the country conduct some form of Earth Day programs.

Earth Day wasn’t his only contribution to the cause.

He was regarded as the U.S. Senate’s leading environmentalist and spearheaded the passage of a number of environmental friendly laws as well as introducing legislation dealing with the fuel efficiency of cars.

Nelson’s efforts to protect the environment won him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995.