Interesting Earth Day History, Facts, Purpose and Stats

Source: National Geographic

Happy Earth Day!!! Since 1970, April 22nd every year is celebrated as Earth Day

Following is the original article from NationalGeographic.com -

From not-so-humble beginnings in 1970, when 20 million participated across the U.S., Earth Day has grown into a global tradition, with a billion expected to take part in 2009. Find out when it is, how it started, how it's evolved, and what you can do.

When Is Earth Day?


Every day, the saying goes, is Earth Day. But it's popularly celebrated on April 22. Why?

One persistent rumor holds that April 22 was chosen because it's the birthday of Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the Soviet Union.

"Lenin's goal was to destroy private property and this goal is obviously shared by environmentalists," the Capitalism Magazine website noted in a 2004 article perpetuating the theory.

Kathleen Rogers, president of Washington, D.C.-based Earth Day Network, said in 2010 that the rumored communist connection is untrue.

Instead, April 22, 1970, was chosen for the first Earth Day in part because it fell on a Wednesday, the best part of the week to encourage a large turnout for the environmental rallies held across the country, Rogers said.

"It worked out perfectly, because everybody was at work and they all left," she said.

In fact, more than 20 million people across the U.S. are estimated to have participated in that first Earth Day.

(See pictures: "The First Earth Day—Bell-Bottoms and Gas Masks.")

Earth Day is now celebrated every year by more than a billion people in 180 nations around the world.

Mad People and a Frustrated Politician


Earth Day's history is rooted in 1960s activism. The environment was in visible ruins and people were mad, according to Rogers.

"It wasn't uncommon in some cities during rush hour to be standing on a street corner and not be able to see across the street" because of pollution, she said.

Despite the anger, green issues were absent from the U.S. political agenda, which frustrated U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, whose campaigns for the environment through much of the 1960s had fallen flat.

First Earth Day "Took off Like Gangbusters"


In 1969 Nelson hit on the idea of an environmental protest modeled after anti-Vietnam War demonstrations called teach-ins.

"It took off like gangbusters. Telegrams, letters, and telephone inquiries poured in from all across the country," Nelson recounted in an essay shortly before he died in July 2005 at 89.

"The American people finally had a forum to express its concern about what was happening to the land, rivers, lakes, and air—and they did so with spectacular exuberance."

Nelson recruited activist Denis Hayes to organize the April 22, 1970, teach-in, which today is sometimes credited for launching the modern environmental movement.

By the end of 1970, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had been born, and efforts to improve air and water quality were gaining political traction.

"It was truly amazing what happened," Rogers said. "Blocks just tumbled."

Earth Day Evolves


Since Earth Day started, environmentalism has moved from a fringe issue to a mainstream concern, Amy Cassara told National Geographic News in 2010, when she was a senior associate at the World Resources Institute in Washington, D.C.

"As many as 80 percent of Americans describe themselves as environmentalists," Cassara said.

Environmental issues today, however, are less immediate than dirty air, toxic water, and a hole in the ozone layer, she added.

For example, the impacts of global climate change are largely abstract and difficult to explain "without coming off as a doomsday prognosticator," Cassara said.

"As we become more industrialized and our supply chains become less transparent, it can be more difficult to understand the environmental consequences of our actions," she noted.

Earth Day Network—which was founded by the original organizers of Earth Day—is pushing the Earth Day movement from single-day actions, such as park cleanups and tree-planting parties, to long-term commitments.

"Planting a tree, morally and poetically, requires taking care of it for a really long time, not just sticking it in the ground," Earth Day Network's Rogers said.

To help make the transition, the organization is aligned with a hundred thousand schools around the world, integrating projects with an environmental component into the year-round curriculum.

"They announce the results on Earth Day, so Earth Day becomes a moment in time," Rogers said.

Cassara, of the World Resources Institute, said her organization uses Earth Day to convene with leaders in the movement and assess progress in their campaigns.

"[Earth Day] doesn't raise awareness among the general public in the same way that it used to. But it still provides a benchmark for reflection among those of us in the environmental community," she said.

What to Do on Earth Day?


For those whose inner environmentalist speaks loudest on April 22, Earth Day Network's Rogers encourages them to make a public commitment to take an environmental action.

"We are headed for a billion commitments to do something green," Rogers said. "And that doesn't mean think about it—it means do something."

Commitment ideas promoted by the Earth Day Network include pledging to educate friends and family on global warming or buy green products such as energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).

In 2012, Earth Day Network is asking people around the world to take the Billion Acts of Green pledge. Already, 980,952,786 people have participated in a green act, such as planting a garden or participating in an Earth Day event, according to the Earth Day Network website.

The group's goal is to reach one billion actions in time for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June 2012.

"We will present this accomplishment at Rio +20 and use it as a lever to address the UN's inaction and inspire leaders to reach a global agreement at the Rio+20 conference," according to the Earth Day Network website.

(See pictures of quirky Earth Day stunts.)

According to Rogers, everyone is part of this generation, which marks the transition from the industrial revolution to the green revolution.

"It is also about the green generation of energy and the generation of green jobs. ... The name [Green Generation], whenever I say it to people, they have their own idea of what it means, which is exactly what we want."



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Charlie Chaplin Turns 123 Today


Happy Birthday Charlie Chaplin! That's right today is the 123rd birth anniversary of the world's best known comedian - the greatest silent movie star Charlie Chaplin.
Best known for his role as The Tramp, Mr. Chaplin wrote, directed and starred in a series of silent films that commented on the politics, economy and social structure of the day through slapstick, mime and comedy.

Sir Charles Spencer 'Charlie' Chaplin was born in Britain in 1889 and moved to Hollywood in 1910 to forge a celluloid career.

He became one of the most influential artists of his time, with films such as The Kid, City Lights, Modern Times, The Gold Rush and The Great Dictator, his only 'talking' film.

In 1919 he founded United Artists with fellow stars Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith all of whom were seeking to escape the growing power consolidation of film distributors and financiers in Hollywood. In the McCarthy era, Charlie Chaplin was among the Hollywood stars suspected of communist and anti-American sympathies. In February 2012, an MI5 file on Mr. Chaplin was opened to the public which revealed that the FBI had contacted the British secret service to provide them with information which would enable them to ban Mr. Chaplin from the US.


He was a famous ladies' man, marrying four times. His fourth wife was Oona, daughter of American playwright Eugene O'Neill. Of his twelve children, daughter Geraldine is a well known and acclaimed actress in her own right.

Charlie Chaplin was made a Knight Commander of the British Empire in 1975. He was also given a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1970.

He received three Academy Awards in his lifetime: Best Original Score for the movie Limelight, and two Honorary Awards.

Charlie Chaplin died in his sleep in Switzerland on 25 December 1977 at the age of 88.



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A Hearty Chat with Dr. Devi Shetty

Today while digging into the FundooGeek archives for a research project, one of our Fundoo Geeks found a very informative article. A chat with Dr.Devi Shetty, one of the most renowned Heart surgeons in India. In 2001, Shetty founded Narayana Hrudayalaya (NH), a multi-specialty hospital in Bommasandra on the outskirts of Bangalore City (Karnataka State) in South India. Narayana Hrudayalaya arranged a visit by Dr. Shetty to WIPRO for its employees. Below is the transcript of the Q&A chat.


Q: What are the thumb rules for a layman to take care of his heart?
Ans:
1. Diet - Less of carbohydrate, more of protein, less oil
2. Exercise - Half an hour's walk, at least five days a week; avoid lifts and avoid sitting for a long time
3. Quit smoking
4. Control weight
5. Control blood pressure and sugar


Q: Is eating non-veg food (fish) good for the heart?
Ans: No

Q: It's still a grave shock to hear that some apparently healthy person gets a cardiac arrest. How do we understand it in perspective?
Ans: This is called silent attack; that is why we recommend everyone past the age of 30 to undergo routine health checkups.

Q: Are heart diseases hereditary?
Ans: Yes

Q: What are the ways in which the heart is stressed? What practices do you suggest to de-stress?
Ans: Change your attitude towards life. Do not look for perfection in everything in life.

Q: Is walking better than jogging or is more intensive exercise required to keep a healthy heart?
Ans: Walking is better than jogging since jogging leads to early fatigue and injury to joints

Q: You have done so much for the poor and needy. What has inspired you to do so?
Ans: Mother Theresa , who was my patient.

Q: Can people with low blood pressure suffer heart diseases?
Ans: Extremely rare.

Q: Does cholesterol accumulates right from an early age (I'm currently only 22) or do you have to worry about it only after you are above 30 years of age?
Ans: Cholesterol accumulates from childhood.

Q: How do irregular eating habits affect the heart ?
Ans: You tend to eat junk food when the habits are irregular and your body's enzyme release for digestion gets confused.

Q: How can I control cholesterol content without using medicines?
Ans: Control diet, walk and eat walnut.

Q: Which is the best and worst food for the heart?
Ans: Fruits and vegetables are the best and the worst is oil.

Q: Which oil is better - groundnut, sunflower, olive?
Ans: All oils are bad .

Q: What is the routine checkup one should go through? Is there any specific test?
Ans: Routine blood test to ensure sugar, cholesterol is ok. Check BP, Treadmill test after an echo.

Q: What are the first aid steps to be taken on a heart attack?
Ans: Help the person into a sleeping position , place an aspirin tablet under the tongue with a sorbitrate tablet if available, and rush him to a coronary care unit since the maximum casualty takes place within the first hour.

Q: How do you differentiate between pain caused by a heart attack and that caused due to gastric trouble?
Ans: Extremely difficult without ECG.

Q: What is the main cause of a steep increase in heart problems amongst youngsters? I see people of about 30-40 yrs of age having heart attacks and serious heart problems.
Ans: Increased awareness has increased incidents. Also, sedentary lifestyles, smoking, junk food, lack of exercise in a country where people are genetically three times more vulnerable for heart attacks than Europeans and Americans. Q: Is it possible for a person to have BP outside the normal range of 120/80 and yet be perfectly healthy?
Ans: Yes.

Q: Marriages within close relatives can lead to heart problems for the child. Is it true?
Ans: Yes, co-sanguinity leads to congenital abnormalities and you may not have a software engineer as a child

Q: Many of us have an irregular daily routine and many a times we have to stay late nights in office. Does this affect our heart ? What precautions would you recommend?
Ans: When you are young, nature protects you against all these irregularities. However, as you grow older, respect the biological clock.

Q: Will taking anti-hypertensive drugs cause some other complications (short / long term)?
Ans: Yes, most drugs have some side effects. However, modern anti-hypertensive drugs are extremely safe.

Q: Will consuming more coffee/tea lead to heart attacks?
Ans : No.

Q: Are asthma patients more prone to heart disease?
Ans: No.

Q: How would you define junk food?
Ans: Fried food like Kentucky , McDonalds , samosas, and even masala dosas.

Q: You mentioned that Indians are three times more vulnerable. What is the reason for this, as Europeans and Americans also eat a lot of junk food?
Ans: Every race is vulnerable to some disease and unfortunately, Indians are vulnerable for the most expensive disease.

Q: Does consuming bananas help reduce hypertension?
Ans: No.

Q: Can a person help himself during a heart attack (Because we see a lot of forwarded emails on this)?
Ans: Yes. Lie down comfortably and put an aspirin tablet of any description under the tongue and ask someone to take you to the nearest coronary care unit without any delay and do not wait for the ambulance since most of the time, the ambulance does not turn up.

Q: Do, in any way, low white blood cells and low hemoglobin count lead to heart problems?
Ans: No. But it is ideal to have normal hemoglobin level to increase your exercise capacity.

Q: Sometimes, due to the hectic schedule we are not able to exercise. So, does walking while doing daily chores at home or climbing the stairs in the house, work as a substitute for exercise?
Ans: Certainly. Avoid sitting continuously for more than half an hour and even the act of getting out of the chair and going to another chair and sitting helps a lot.

Q: Is there a relation between heart problems and blood sugar?
Ans: Yes. A strong relationship since diabetics are more vulnerable to heart attacks than non-diabetics.

Q: What are the things one needs to take care of after a heart operation?
Ans: Diet, exercise, drugs on time , Control cho lesterol, BP, weight.

Q: Are people working on night shifts more vulnerable to heart disease when compared to day shift workers?
Ans: No.

Q: What are the modern anti-hypertensive drugs?
Ans: There are hundreds of drugs and your doctor will chose the right combination for your problem, but my suggestion is to avoid the drugs and go for natural ways of controlling blood pressure by walk, diet to reduce weight and changing attitudes towards lifestyles.

Q: Does dispirin or similar headache pills increase the risk of heart attacks?
Ans: No.

Q: Why is the rate of heart attacks more in men than in women?
Ans: Nature protects women till the age of 45. (Present Global census show that the Percentage of heart disease in women has increased than in men)

Q: How can one keep the heart in a good condition?
Ans: Eat a healthy diet, avoid junk food, exercise everyday, do not smoke and, go for health checkup s if you are past the age of 30 ( once in six months recommended) ....




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Newton's Laws - The Entire List

We all know the following 3 laws of motion first compiled by the great Isaac Newton ...



Newton's Laws of Motion:
1. First law: Every object continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight line, unless compelled to change that state by external forces acted upon it.

2. Second law: The acceleration a of a body is parallel and directly proportional to the net force F acting on the body, is in the direction of the net force, and is inversely proportional to the mass m of the body, i.e., F = ma.

3. Third law: When two bodies interact by exerting force on each other, these action and reaction forces are equal in magnitude, but opposite in direction.


But I bet you didn't know that Newton was working on 11 additional laws that were never published ... until now.
Behold, the 11 Secret Laws of Newton -

1. LAW OF QUEUE: If you change queues, the one you have left will start to move faster than the one you are in now.

2. LAW OF TELEPHONE: When you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy one.

3. LAW OF MECHANICAL REPAIR: After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch.

4. LAW OF THE WORKSHOP: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

5. LAW OF THE ALIBI: If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the next morning you will have a flat tire.

6. BATH THEOREM: When the body is immersed in water, the telephone rings.

7. LAW OF ENCOUNTERS: The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

8. LAW OF THE RESULT: When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will!

9. LAW OF BIOMECHANICS: The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

10. LAW OF COFFEE: As soon as you sit down for a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

And finally ...
11. LAW OF comMOTION: Loose Motion cannot be achieved in Slow Motion.



All of us @ theFundooGeek.com would like to thank Sir Isaac Newton for his priceless contribution to mankind!




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