Every year on May 16th, the International Day of Light promotes awareness for the appreciation of light and the role it plays in science, art, education, and sustainable development. The day also recognizes the natural benefits of light, as well as its many technological applications.
Even though everyone knows what light is, it can be hard to define. Light is not just the opposite of darkness. It is electromagnetic radiation within the electromagnetic spectrum that is perceived by the human eye. Visible light has wavelengths between 400 and 700 nanometers. Another way to define light is a stream of photons that travel with wavelike properties at the speed of light.
The day celebrates the role that light plays in science, culture and art, education, and sustainable development, and in fields as diverse as medicine, communications, and energy to help achieve the goals of UNESCO – ‘education, equality, and peace. The message of 2021 International Day of Light is “Trust Science”.
Due to the success of the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015, UNESCO decided to organize a day dedicated to light. The first official International Day of Light was held on May 16th, 2018. The date May 16th marks the anniversary of the first successful operation of the laser. American physicist and engineer, Theodore Maiman is credited for inventing the laser. He fired the first laser in 1960.
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