On Apr. 22, 1990, the second Earth Day was celebrated by more than 225 million people. The first Earth Day was held on Apr. 22, 1970 and the modern environmental movement was born.

A proposal to establish “Earth Day” was submitted the previous Oct. by John McConnell to Peter Tamaris with the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Gaylord Nelson, a Democratic Senator from Wisconsin was instrumental in founding Earth Day as a teach-in and to “force this issue onto the national agenda.” 20 million Americans demonstrated across the nation. Senator Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton in 1995 — the highest honor given to civilians in the United States — for his role as Earth Day founder.

The mission of EarthDay.org is to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide. Growing out of the first Earth Day in 1970, EarthDay.org is the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement, working with more than 150,000 partners in over 192 countries to drive positive action for our planet.