The first Arbor Day took place on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska. It was the brainchild of Julius Sterling Morton (1832-1902), a Nebraska journalist and politician originally from Michigan. Throughout his long and productive career, Morton worked to improve agricultural techniques in his adopted state and throughout the United States when he served as President Grover Clevelands Secretary of Agriculture. But his most important legacy is Arbor Day.

Morton (photo, right) felt that Nebraskas landscape and economy would benefit from the wide-scale planting of trees. He set an example himself planting orchards, shade trees and wind breaks on his own farm and he urged his neighbours to follow suit. Mortons real opportunity, though, arrived when he became a member of Nebraskas state board of agriculture.

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He proposed that a special day be set aside dedicated to tree planting and increasing awareness of the importance of trees. Nebraskas first Arbor Day was an amazing success. More than one million trees were planted. A second Arbor Day took place in 1884 and the young state made it an annual legal holiday in 1885, using April 22nd to coincide with Mortons birthday.

In the years following that first Arbor Day, Mortons idea spread beyond Nebraska with Kansas, Tennessee, Minnesota and Ohio all proclaiming their own Arbor Days. Today all 50 states celebrate Arbor Day although the dates may vary in keeping with the local climate. (State Arbor Days) At the federal level, in 1970, President Richard Nixon proclaimed the last Friday in April as National Arbor Day. Arbor Day is also now celebrated in other countries including Australia.

Variations are celebrated as Greening Week of Japan, The New Years Days of Trees in Israel, The Tree-loving Week of Korea, The Reforestation Week of Yugoslavia, The Students Afforestation Day of Iceland and The National Festival of Tree Planting in India. Julius Sterling Morton would be proud. Sometimes one good idea can make a real difference.