Editing Earth Day (section)

==History of the Equinox Earth Day (March 20)==

The equinoctial Earth Day is celebrated on the [[March equinox]] (around March 20) to mark the arrival of astronomical spring in the [[Northern Hemisphere]], and of astronomical autumn in the [[Southern Hemisphere]]. An [[equinox]] in astronomy is that point in time (not a whole day) when the Sun is directly above the Earth's equator, occurring around March 20 and September 23 each year. In most cultures, the equinoxes and [[solstice]]s are considered to start or separate the seasons, although weather patterns evolve earlier.

[[John McConnell (peace activist)|John McConnell]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=EarthSite |url=http://www.earthsite.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060422193041/http://www.earthsite.org/ |archive-date=April 22, 2006 |access-date=April 22, 2010}}</ref> first introduced the idea of a global holiday called "Earth Day" at the 1969 [[UNESCO]] Conference on the Environment. The first Earth Day [[proclamation]] was issued by San Francisco Mayor [[Joseph Alioto]] on March 21, 1970. Celebrations were held in various cities, such as San Francisco and in Davis, California with a multi-day street party. UN Secretary-General [[U Thant]] supported McConnell's global initiative to celebrate this annual event; and on February 26, 1971, he signed a proclamation to that effect, saying:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Earth Day 2004 |url=https://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/earthday/peacebell_2004.asp |access-date=April 15, 2013}}</ref>
<blockquote>May there be only peaceful and cheerful Earth Days to come for our beautiful [[Spaceship Earth]] as it continues to spin and circle in frigid space with its warm and fragile cargo of animate life.</blockquote>

United Nations secretary-general [[Kurt Waldheim]] observed Earth Day with similar ceremonies on the March equinox in 1972, and the United Nations Earth Day ceremony has continued each year since on the day of the March equinox (the United Nations also works with organizers of the April 22 global event). [[Margaret Mead]] added her support for the equinox Earth Day, and in 1978 declared:<ref>Margaret Mead, "Earth Day," ''EPA Journal'', March 1978.</ref>

{{Blockquote|multiline=yes|author=Kurt Waldheim |Earth Day is the first holy day which transcends all national borders, yet preserves all geographical integrities, spans mountains and oceans and time belts, and yet brings people all over the world into one resonating accord, is devoted to the preservation of the harmony in nature and yet draws upon the triumphs of technology, the measurement of time, and instantaneous communication through space.
Earth Day draws on astronomical phenomena in a new way – which is also the most ancient way – by using the Vernal Equinox, the time when the Sun crosses the equator making the length of night and day equal in all parts of the Earth. To this point in the annual calendar, EARTH DAY attaches no local or divisive set of symbols, no statement of the truth or superiority of one way of life over another. But the selection of the March Equinox makes planetary observance of a shared event possible and a flag that shows the Earth, as seen from space, appropriate.}}

At the moment of the equinox, it is traditional to observe Earth Day by ringing the [[Japanese Peace Bell]], which Japan donated to the United Nations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Japanese Peace Bell |url=https://www.un.org/pubs/cyberschoolbus/untour/subjap.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928182232/http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/untour/subjap.htm |archive-date=September 28, 2013 |access-date=April 22, 2013 |publisher=United Nations}}</ref> Over the years, celebrations have occurred in various places worldwide at the same time as the UN celebration. On March 20, 2008, in addition to the ceremony at the United Nations, ceremonies were held in New Zealand, and bells were sounded in California, Vienna, Paris, Lithuania, Tokyo, and many other locations. The equinox Earth Day at the UN is organized by the Earth Society Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Earth Society Foundation |url=https://earthsocietyfoundation.com/ |access-date=October 25, 2019 |publisher=Earth Society Foundation |archive-date=October 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023223504/https://earthsocietyfoundation.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Earth Day ringing the peace bell is celebrated around the world in many towns, ringing the Peace Bell in [[Vienna]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Earth Day 2010 |url=http://www.dorfwiki.org/wiki.cgi?Earth__Day/EarthDay2010 |access-date=April 22, 2013 |publisher=Dorf Wiki}}</ref> [[Berlin]], and elsewhere. A memorable event took place at the UN in Geneva, celebrating a Minute for Peace ringing the Japanese Shinagawa Peace Bell with the help of the Geneva Friendship Association and the Global Youth Foundation,<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 21, 2011 |title=Seeds of Change – Heiner Benking's Blog – quergeist.info |url=http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v396/__show_day/_w2011-03-21 |access-date=April 22, 2013 |publisher=Newciv.org}}</ref> directly after in deep mourning about the [[Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant]] catastrophe ten days before.

Besides the Spring Equinox for the Northern Hemisphere, the observance of the Spring Equinox for the Southern Hemisphere in September is of equal importance. The International Day of Peace<ref>{{Cite web |title=International Day of Peace, 21 September 2012 |url=https://www.un.org/en/events/peaceday/ |access-date=April 15, 2013}}</ref> is celebrated on September 21, and can thus be considered to accord with the original intentions of [[John McConnell (peace activist)|John McConnell]], [[U Thant]] and others.