Hosted by Tony Award-winner Joe Mantegna and Emmy
Award-winner Gary Sinise, both steadfast champions of
Veterans’ causes and active service members, the National
Memorial Day concert will air on PBS and stream nationwide
on the PBS website at www.pbs.org/national-memorial-
day-concert and YouTube on Sunday, May 26, 2024 at
8:00 p.m. E.T.

On this day in history, April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day was
celebrated — ushering in a host of new environmental
legislation.

The idea for the observation "Earth Day" originated with Sen.
Gaylord Nelson, a Democrat from Wisconsin, who had "long
been concerned about the deteriorating environment in the
United States.”  (EarthDay.org.) 

Gaylord Anton Nelson
(June 4, 1916 – July 3, 2005)

WWI Daylight Savings Time Promotional
Poster 1918 by United Cigar Stores Co.

Leap years exist because while the world follows a 365-day
Gregorian calendar, it actually takes the planet a little bit
more than a year to orbit the sun. It takes Earth 365 days,
5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds to orbit the sun,
according to NASA — and while that is rounded down to
the 365 days we recognize as a typical year, those nearly
six extra hours don’t disappear.

Instead, leap years are added to account for the difference
and extra day keeps calendars and seasons from gradually
falling out of sync and impacting harvesting, planting and
other cycles based on the seasons. Without Leap Days, in
100 years, calendars would be 24 days off.