In the decades leading up to the first Earth Day, Americans were consuming vast amounts of leaded gas through massive and inefficient automobiles. Pollution and deforestation were also two major issues back then. With the help of Rachel Carson’s New York Times bestseller Silent Spring, the book originated in 1962. She brought public attention and concern for living organisms, the environment, and public health. A few years later Denis Allen Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land, and the effort soon broadened to include a wide range of organizations, faith groups, and others.  Eventually, the name changed to Earth Day, which instantly sparked national media attention, and caught on across the country. Earth Day inspired 20 million Americans at the time, 10% of the total population of the United States, to take to the streets, parks and auditoriums to demonstrate against the impacts of 150 years of industrial development which had left a growing legacy of serious human health impacts. 

Happy Earth Day!