Earth Day – an annual event on to show support for environmental protection. It was first held on April 22, 1970, after the disastrous Santa Barbara oil spill from a Union oil drilling platform dumped at least 3,000,000 gallons of crude – killing birds, seagulls dolphins, and seals. This prompted several organizers, helped by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson who was appalled by an 800-sqaure-mile oil slick floating in the Santa Barbara Channel to start a renewed environmental movement.