Holiday

From grassroots beginnings in 1970, Earth Day—which celebrates its 40th anniversary today—has blossomed into a global tradition.

Organizers expect more than a billion to honor Earth Day in 2010—but many will do so with Facebook rather than megaphones.

As part of the Billion Acts of Green, an initiative organized by the Washington, D.C.-based Earth Day Network’s Green Generation campaign, more than 30 million people will use social media to encourage green activities. One commenter on the Earth Day Network Web site named “Elroy,” for example, plans to “shower with a friend”—presumably to conserve water and electricity.

Today, St. Patrick’s Day 2010, millions of people will don green and celebrate the Irish with parades, good cheer, and perhaps a pint of beer. But pinning a shamrock to your lapel in 2010 may require a heaping helping of the luck of the Irish.

Find out why shamrocks are in short supply, what St. Patrick really did, and more in our no-blarney roundup of St. Patrick’s Day facts.

Remember the haunted house in grade school where your hand was guided into a bowlful of “brains”? Those skinned grapes have nothing on what happened to Rachel Cubitt of the York Archaeological Trust in England.

This Fourth of July visitors will once again be free to visit the Statue of Liberty’s crown for the first time since 9/11.

The New York City landmark’s upper reaches are set to reopen after being closed for safety reasons after the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The move follows the reopening of Liberty Island in late 2001 and of the statue in 2004.

On Father’s Day 2009, which falls on Sunday, June 21, millions of dads across the U.S. will open boxes, peel back tissue paper, and break into a smile as they admire their new neckties

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.

Earth Day is celebrated worldwide each year on April 22, prompting environmental groups and businesses to pull off a host of sometimes unusual stunts to draw attention to their causes and green initiatives. Check out eight of them.