This California Disaster Inspired The First Earth Day

April 22nd is Earth Day, a day set aside for appreciating the environment and demonstrating support for environmental protection. The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970. Over 50 years later, 1 billion people in over 193 countries participate in Earth Day events. But how did it start?

According to a report from the New York Times, the yearly tradition's origins can actually be traced back to California. Soumya Karlamangla writes that a massive oil spill in 1969 off the coast of Santa Barbara was the catalyst for Earth Day.

In January 1969, millions of gallons of crude oil poured into the waters becoming the biggest oil spill in U.S. history at the time and it was televised. You can find archival footage of the broadcasts below.

The environmental catastrophe prompted Gaylord Nelson, a senator from Wisconsin, to hold a national teach-in about environmentalism. In the fall of 1969, Nelson recruited Denis Hayes, who was a 25-year-old graduate student at Harvard, to organize the event that would become the Earth Day we know today.

To read the New York Times' full story, click here.