In 1963,former Senator Gaylord Nelson began to worry about our planet. Nelson knew that our world
was getting dirty and that many of our plants and animals were dying. He wondered why most people
weren't trying to solve these problems. He talked to other lawmakers and to the President. They decided
that the President would go around the country and tell people about these problems. He did, but still not
enough people were working on it.  
     Then in 1969, Senator Nelson had another idea. He decided to have a special day to teach everyone
about the things that needed changing in our environment. He wrote letters to all of the colleges and put a
special article in Scholastic Magazine to tell them about the special day he had planned.
     On April 22,1970, the first Earth Day meeting was held. People all over the country made promises to
help improve the environment. Since then, Earth Day has spread all over the planet. People all over the
world know that there are problems we need to work on and this is our special day to look at the planet 
and see what needs changing. Isn't it great? One person had an idea and kept working until everyone
began working together to solve it.