Arbor Day is a day when individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees. It originated in Nebraska City, Nebraska, in 1872 by a man named J. Sterling Morton. He realized that trees played an important role on our lives and we should give back to the earth what we have taken.
Prizes were offered for the first Arbor Day to those planting the largest sums of trees. An estimated one million trees were planted the first Arbor Day. Within 16 years of that first day, over 350,000,000 trees and vines were planted in the state of Nebraska. Soon people outside the state took notice and Arbor Day became recognized all over the United States.
Even though all states can't plant trees the same day because of climate differences, Arbor Day's official celebration is on the last Friday in April as declared by former President Richard Nixon in 1970.