<P> In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco , peace activist John McConnell proposed a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace , to first be celebrated on March 21 , 1970 , the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere . This day of nature 's equipoise was later sanctioned in a proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations . A month later a separate Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach - in first held on April 22 , 1970 . Nelson was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom award in recognition of his work . While this April 22 Earth Day was focused on the United States , an organization launched by Denis Hayes , who was the original national coordinator in 1970 , took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations . </P>
<P> In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco , peace activist John McConnell proposed a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace , to first be celebrated on March 21 , 1970 , the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere . This day of nature 's equipoise was later sanctioned in a proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations . A month later a separate Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach - in first held on April 22 , 1970 . Nelson was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom award in recognition of his work . While this April 22 Earth Day was focused on the United States , an organization launched by Denis Hayes , who was the original national coordinator in 1970 , took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations . </P>
when did the first international earth day occur
when did the first international earth day occur
1990
1990