Sun Day (May 3, 1978) was designated by United States President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

, specifically devoted to advocacy for

solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovolta ...

, following a joint resolution by Congress, becoming . It was modeled on the highly successful Earth Day of April 22, 1970. It was the idea of

Denis Hayes Denis Allen Hayes (born August 29, 1944) is an environmental advocate and an advocate for solar power. He rose to prominence in 1970 as the coordinator for the first Earth Day. Hayes founded the Earth Day Network and expanded it to more than 18 ...

, who also coordinated Earth Day in 1970. The date became an international event in 1994.

Commemorations

While President Carter flew to Denver to visit a solar power research institute, others gathered in

Cadillac Mountain Cadillac Mountain is located on Mount Desert Island, within Acadia National Park, in the U.S. state of Maine. With an elevation of , its summit is the highest point in Hancock County and the highest within of the Atlantic shoreline of the Nor ...

in Maine where the sun's rays allegedly first touch the United States (although not at that time of the year). A crowd gathered at UN Plaza in New York City to listen to speeches by people such as Robert Redford, who reminded them that the sun "can't be embargoed by any foreign nation". At the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, environmental activist

Barry Commoner Barry Commoner (May 28, 1917 – September 30, 2012) was an American cellular biologist, college professor, and politician. He was a leading ecologist and among the founders of the modern environmental movement. He was the director of the ...

opined to a group of 500 people that solar power was an issue as pivotal as slavery and that "if Mr. Carter and Energy Secretary Schlesinger won't talk about solar energy, it's time that we did," and that solar power was the "one solution to the economic problems of the United States." Other events on the National Mall included a Marathon, speeches by Senators

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

and

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the U ...

, and a concert with Jackson Browne. In DC, the event was so popular that it resulted in a single day ridership record for Metrorail of 197,201, breaking the record set a month earlier; the record only lasted for 5 weeks, when it was broken by the Washington Bullets NBA Championship victory parade. Events were planned in twenty-two countries around the world.

References

{{Reflist History of environmentalism May observances International observances Environmental awareness days