Father of Earth Day
The first Earth Day in human history was initiated and organized by Dennis Hayes, a 25-year-old student at Harvard Law School in the United States on April 22, 1970. He was hailed as " The Father of Earth Day."
Dennis Hayes was born into a poor family in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge in Washington State, USA. The father is a paper mill worker, the mother works in a beauty salon, and has no higher education. Dennis went to college on his own. There were many social problems in the United States in the 1960s, and young Dennis was very confused about the status quo. At the age of 19, he was absent from school for three years. "I really hope to see what the rest of the world looks like, which is different from what I read in the book."
He traveled from the west coast of the United States to Hawaii, to Japan, Russia, to Eastern Europe, and from north to south. He felt very depressed most of the journey.
Later he went to Namibia in southwestern Africa. One day it was already dark: "I was lying alone in the desert, suddenly realizing what I really want to do: I should apply the scientific knowledge I have learned to human life, to industrial, human In the environment in which I lived. Suddenly I felt that I had found a solution to all the problems. I went back to Stanford to study and started to participate in various student activities. Later, I launched Earth Day."
In 1969, Wisconsin Democratic Senator Gaylord Nelson proposed a workshop on environmental issues on campuses across the country. Dennis was a student at Stanford Law School. He flew to Washington to meet with Nelson and talked about his ideas. After receiving Nelson's encouragement, Dennis Hayes went through the suspension process and went all out to organize the event.
On April 22, 1970, the United States held its first Earth Day event. On this day, a total of 20 million people from the United States participated in the event. People hold large-scale demonstrations, gatherings, and speeches, holding up polluted earth models, huge paintings, and graphics, calling for a clean, simple, and peaceful living environment. The US Congress was forced to adjourn on the same day, and most of the members also went to participate in various activities and gatherings. The event was hailed as the largest social event in the United States since World War II.
Since then, Dennis has worked at the Smithsonian Institute and the Illinois State Government to study and formulate policies on energy. He put forward the idea of saving energy and using renewable energy such as solar energy to solve the increasingly serious global energy problem, and wrote a book on how to use solar energy - "Light of Hope."
In 1988, Dennis and his friends discussed the event to organize the 20th anniversary of Earth Day. They decided to make Earth Day 1990 the first international Earth Day to encourage millions of people around the world to actively participate in environmental protection. To this end, they wrote to the leaders of China, the United States, and the United Kingdom and the UN Secretary-General, calling on countries to take positive steps to stop and reverse the global environmental deterioration. Many countries and regions are responding positively.
On April 22, 1990, 200 million people from 141 countries wore blue and green clothing to participate in World Earth Day. Later, on April 22, it was named "World Earth Day."