​National Wildlife Day Timeline

​2006

​National Wildlife Day was born

Colleen Paige created National Wildlife Day in honor of the late wildlife conservationist Steve Irwin — the famed "Crocodile Hunter."

​​December 28, 1973

The Endangered Species Act passed

​President Nixon signed a law protecting threatened species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation."

September 27, 1962

A boost for the environmentalist movement

American biologist and conservationist Rachel Carson published "Silent Spring," documenting the adverse effects of pesticides on the environment.

​March 1, 1872

Grant makes ​Yellowstone official

​President Ulysses S. Grant signed the law establishing Yellowstone as America's first national park — and the first national park in the world.