Q:
A: Contrary to popular belief, the idea for Earth Day did not originate with Gaylord Nelson but with Horatio Lord Nelson, the Admiral who led the victorious British Fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. It is well documented that, despite spending most of his life in the navy, Horatio Nelson suffered from sea sickness on the first 2 or 3 days at sea. His mistress, Emma Lady Hamilton, tried to get him to take many different supposed cures. But in conversation with the captain of HMS Victory, Thomas Hardy, Horatio said that when he retired from the navy he was going to treat his birthday (29 September) as 'earth day' to celebrate the fact that he would no longer be sailing.