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National Fossil Day was established in the United States to promote the scientific and educational values of fossils. It was first held on October 13, 2010, during Earth Science Week. The National Park Service and over 270 partners, including museums, institutions, organizations and other groups, joined together to educate the public about the value of fossils. Hundreds of activities were hosted across the United States aimed at improving public understanding of the world's fossil heritage.
The second National Fossil Day 2011 was observed on October 12, 2011 with events at museums, parks, universities, and non-profit organizations. National Fossil Day 2012 was celebrated on October 17, 2012 with an opening event held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.. Similar events have been held annually.
Each year a new educational National Fossil Day logo is created and announced in mid-January on the event website, depicting a prehistoric organism. The original National Fossil Day logo in 2010 and featured a fossil titanothere, a prehistoric mammal. In 2011, a marine reptile, the mosasaur, was used. For 2012, the mammoth was used for the annual logo. For 2013, a Paleozoic invertebrate known as the eurypterid was featured. For 2014 a fossil of an aetosaur, a Triassic reptile, was used. For 2015, a large herbivore mammal known as a chalicothere was used. For 2016, the prehistoric saber-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis was used.