International Day of Light 2024 - preparations are in progress
The theme for this year's Day of Light on May 16, 2024, is: Light in our Lives.
The International Day of Light (IDL) is initiated by UNESCO. It encourages all interested individuals, groups and institutions to plan relevant events and register them in its event calendar.
On the website of the event you can find a lot of information about the organisation of the event and visitors review past activities. For example a project from ITARA - an NGO based in Madagascar. For the International Day of Light in 2023, ITATRA organised a photo contest with the Foldscope microscope, targeting high school students. Foldscope is a paper microscope that combines low-cost materials with precision optics, resulting in a high-quality and affordable instrument that can also attach to mobile phones for imaging.
The International Day of Light takes place on 16 May because it was on this day in 1960 that a laser was used for the first time, by Theodore Maimann at Bell Labs in the USA. The International Day of Light aims to promote the importance of science and the applications of light, address challenges in sustainable development, health and education, and explain the importance of science education.