What is Earth Day?
Earth Day is a global celebration on April 22 each year encouraging education and stewardship of the planet's natural resources.
Source: National Park Service
United States senator Gaylord Nelson (D-WI) helped launch the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Years after his death, Senator Nelson remains an icon of the environmental movement.
Senator Nelson used to say that he came to environmentalism “by osmosis,” having grown up in Clear Lake, Wisconsin. He promoted conservation as governor of Wisconsin, and after he was elected to the Senate in 1962 he used his maiden speech to call for “a comprehensive, nationwide program to save the natural resources of America.” He went on to compile an impressive list of legislative accomplishments, which included preserving the Appalachian Trail, banning DDT, and promoting clear air and clean water. But it was Earth Day that gave him international prominence and serves as his lasting legacy.
Source: Senate.gov
The Man from Clear Lake by 
Before Earth Day by A marine biologist and nature writer, Rachel Carson catalyzed the global environmental movement with her 1962 book Silent Spring. Outlining the dangers of chemical pesticides, the book led to a nationwide ban on DDT and other pesticides and sparked the movement that ultimately led to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Source Womenshistory.org
You can read "Silent Spring" here at the University Library!
Silent Spring by