One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Photo of the Day: The First Day of Spring
These flowering blossoms remind us that today, March 20th, is the first day of Spring. The first day of Spring is also known as the Vernal Equinox. It is one of two days a year (The other being Autumnal Equinox) when there are 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of night. Equinox = equal night. Why? Most descriptions are a little overly complicated, so let's try not to get too Mr. Science about it.
Because the earth is tilted 23 degrees on its axis, sometimes the top half of the earth is pointed towards the sun, and on the other side of the revolution, the bottom half is pointed at the sun. Which is why summer here means winter in Australia. The point at which we are fully tilted towards the sun is summer solstice, the longest day of the year. The point at which we are pointed away from the sun is winter solstice, the longest night of the year.
Imagine earth's annual revolution as a clock with the sun in the center, and we are traveling around the numbers. Winter solstice is when earth would be at midnight. Summer solstice is when we would be at 6 o'clock. Vernal equinox would be 3 o'clock and Autumnal Equinox would be at 9pm. So the first day of Spring is the day that we hit the halfway point between solstices, and the sun crosses over the celestial equator to start hanging out with us longer than the southern hemisphere.
Woohoo for Spring! The season of Easter, Passover, snapdragons, jacarandas, strawberries, asparagus, baseball, April showers and May flowers is now officially upon us!
Photo by Elise Thompson/LAist
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
