HONOREES
WHO HAVE RUNG THE PEACE BELL
on
EARTH DAY
(Spring Equinox, March 20-21)
at the
United Nations Headquarters in New York City
1971 – 2009

Although the first Earth Day was held on March 21, 1970 in the City of San Francisco, the same city where the United Nations was founded, the first Peace Bell Ceremony to mark Earth Day on the Equinox took place at UN Headquarters – one year later on March 21, 1971. Since that historic date, the ceremony initiated by John McConnell with the cooperation of the UN has been celebrated for 39 consecutive years at UN Headquarters. The 41st anniversary of the first Earth Day will be Saturday, March 20, 2010, with the ringing of the Peace Bell at the precise moment of the Spring Equinox, 1:32 pm EDT (New York time). At this moment, spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere and fall begins in the Southern Hemisphere. The March 2010 ceremony will be the 40th consecutive bell ringing ceremony at the United Nations.

Here are the honorees who have rung the Peace Bell for nearly four decades
at the United Nations on Earth Day (Spring Equinox, March 20-21):

1971     U Thant, Secretary-General, United Nations
1972     Kurt Waldheim, Secretary-General, United Nations
1973     C. V. Narasimhan, Chef du Cabinet, Under-Secretary-General for Inter-Agency Affairs
                        and Co-ordination, United Nations
1974     Bradford Morse, Administrator, United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
    1975     (5th Anniversary of Earth Day)
1975     Genichi Akatani, Under-Secretary-General, United Nations
1976     Robert J. Ryan, Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations
1977     Margaret Mead, world renowned anthropologist, strong supporter of Earth Day
                        and the Earth Society Foundation
1978     Margaret Mead, Earth Day Chairperson
1979     Dr. Estefania Aldaba-Lim, Special Representative (Assistant Secretary-General), United Nations
    1980     (10th Anniversary of Earth Day)
1980     Dr. Edward Gibson, American Scientist-Astronaut, scientist-pilot Skylab 4
1981     Dr. Arvid Pardo, Malta, United Nations Ambassador, founder of the Law of the Sea Conference
1982     Mrs. René Dubos, wife of the renowned scientist, humanist
                        and Professor Emeritus of The Rockefeller University
1983     Reverend Percival Brown, Trinity Church, Wall Street, New York
1984     Paul McRae, Member of Parliament, representing Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Canada
    1985     (15th Anniversary of Earth Day)
1985     Dr. Robert Muller, Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations
1986     Dr. Robert Muller, Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations
1987     Chester Norris, U.S. Mission, Minister Counselor, Deputy U.S. Representative
                        to UN Economic and Social Council
            Valentin Karymov, Senior Counselor, USSR Mission
            Sheik Ali Mukhtar, Deputy Secretary-General of the Muslim World League,
                        Mecca, Saudi Arabia
1988     Edward Abramson, New York State Majority Whip, Earth Day Chairman
            Reverend Umberto Mullare
            Francis McCullough, Cardinal Krol Center, Philadelphia, PA
1989     Dr. Noel Brown, United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP)
    1990     (20th Anniversary of Earth Day)
1990     David Dinkins, Mayor, City of New York
            Cynthia Lennon, artist, the United Kingdom
1991     Antoine Blanca, Director-General for Development and
                        International Economic Co-operation, United Nations
1992     Joseph Ciccipio, former hostage in Beirut, former acting comptroller of the American University
            Anicetas Simutis, Ambassador, Lithuania
            Aivars Baumanis, Ambassador, Latvia
            Paul Luedig, Counsellor, representing Ernst Jaakson, Ambassadore, Estonia
1993     Rigoberto Menchu Tum, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, human rights activist, Guatemala
1994     Nasir Obeid, young boy from Palestine
            Daphne Tenne, young girl from Israel
    1995     (25th Anniversary of Earth Day)
1995     Edwina Sandys, artist, and granddaughter of Sir Winston Churchill,
                        the late Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1996     Richard Butler, Ambassador, Australia
            Anna McConnell, wife of John McConnell, Earth Day founder
1997     Razali Ismail, Ambassador, Malaysia, and President of the General Assembly, United Nations
1998     Gillian Sorensen, Under-Secretary-General for External Relations, United Nations
            Kensaku Hogen, Under-Secretary for Communications and Public Information, United Nations
1999     Brother Ignatio Harding, Franciscans International
            Lama Gangchen, Monk, Tibet
    2000     (30th Anniversary of Earth Day)
2000     Gerhard Pfanzelter, Ambassador, Austria
2001     Mary Catherine Bateson, author and daughter of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson
2002     Mrs. Lisbet Palme, Swedish Committee for UNICEF, and wife of Olof Palme,
                        the late Prime Minister of Sweden
2003     Pete Seeger, legendary folk musician and environmentalist
2004     John McConnell, founder of Earth Day (March Equinox),
                        and co-founder of the Earth Society Foundation
    2005     (35th Anniversary of Earth Day)
2005     Aye Aye Thant, daughter of U Thant, UN Secretary-General
            Don MacKay, Ambassador, New Zealand,
                       and Acting President of the General Assembly, United Nations
            Eduardo J. Sevilla Somoza, Ambassador, Nicaragua
2006     Lars Hjalmar Wide, Ambassador/Chef de Cabinet,
                       Office of the President of the 60th session of the UN General Assembly
            Ambassador (& Mrs.) Shinichi Kitaoka, Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the UN
2007     Aye Aye Thant, daughter of U Thant, UN Secretary-General
2008     Anwaral Chowdhury, Ambassador, Bangladesh
2009     Pete Seeger, legendary folk musician and environmentalist


(Note: The first Earth Day, initiated by John McConnell, the founder of Earth Day,
was commemorated in the City of San Francisco on March 21, 1970.)