1. In 1970, Vermont celebrated the first Earth Day in the nation. The day was organized by Senator Gaylord Nelson, and celebrated by millions of people across the country.

2. On April 22, 1908, the University of Vermont conferred its first degree in agriculture to a graduating student. The Agricultural Department was established at UVM in 1865, and by 1908, the program had grown to include several degrees in agriculture, such as animal husbandry, horticulture, and farm economics.

3. In 2002, Vermont's first same-sex civil union was performed on April 22. The civil union law was passed by the Vermont Legislature in 2000, making Vermont the first state in the nation to legally recognize same-sex unions.

4. On April 22, 2011, the Vermont Senate passed a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide. The bill, known as Act 39, allows terminally ill patients to request a lethal dose of medication from a physician in order to end their own lives.

5. April 22, 1861, was the day that Vermont Governor Erastus Fairbanks responded to President Abraham Lincoln's call for troops to quell the rebellion in the South. Fairbanks immediately began recruiting Vermonters to serve in Union forces, and by the end of the Civil War, nearly 30,000 Vermonters had fought for the Union.