-
Inter-Allied Declaration: The Declaration of St. James's Palace
Signed in London on 12 June 1941, the Inter-Allied Declaration was a first step towards the establishment of the United Nations. -
Atlantic Charter
On 14 August 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the United States and Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom proposed a set of principles for international collaboration in maintaining peace and security.
The document, signed during a meeting on the ship H.M.S. Prince of Wales, "somewhere at sea", is known as the Atlantic Charter. -
Declaration by the United Nations
On 1 January 1942, representatives of 26 Allied nations fighting against the Axis Powers met in Washington, D.C. to pledge their support for the Atlantic Charter by signing the "Declaration by United Nations".
This document contained the first official use of the term "United Nations", which was suggested by President Roosevelt. -
Moscow Conference
In a declaration signed in Moscow, the Governments of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and China called for an early establishment of an international organization to maintain peace and security. -
Tehran Conference
That goal was reaffirmed at the meeting of the leaders of the United States, the USSR, and the United Kingdom in Tehran. -
Period: to
Dumbarton Oaks Conference
The first blueprint of the UN was prepared at a conference held at a mansion known as Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C.
During two phases of meeting which ran from 21 September through 7 October 1944, the United States, the United Kingdom, the USSR and China agreed on the aims, structure and functioning of a world organization. -
Yalta Conference
On 11 February 1945, following meetings at Yalta, President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Premier Joseph Stalin declared their resolve to establish "a general international organization to maintain peace and security. -
San Francisco Conference
On 25 April 1945, delegates of 50 nations met in San Francisco for the United Nations Conference on International Organization.
The delegates drew up the 111-article Charter, which was adopted unanimously on 25 June 1945 in the San Francisco Opera House. The next day, they signed it in the Herbst Theatre auditorium of the Veterans War Memorial Building. -
The United Nations is Created, its Charter Ratified
The United Nations is created as its Charter is ratified by the five permanent members of the Security Council and the majority of other signatories, and comes into force. -
General Assembly First Session
The first General Assembly, with 51 nations represented opens in Central Hall, Westminster, London. -
Security Council First Meeting
Security Council meets for the first time in London, adopting its rules for procedure. -
General Assembly First Resolution
General Assembly adopts its first resolution.
Its main focus: peaceful uses of atomic energy and the elimination of atomic and other weapons of mass destruction. -
First Secretary-General Trygve Lie (Norway)
Trygve Lie of Norway becomes first Secretary-General.
Mr. Lie serves as Secretary-General from 2 Feb 1946 to 10 April 1952. -
Secretary-General Trygve Lie's Inaugural Speech
Secretary-General Mr. Trygve Lie addresses the first session of the General Assembly in London on 2 February 1946. In his address he emphasized:
"It is the future of the whole civilized world which is at stake". -
United Nations Day
"United Nations Day" officially designated by the General Assembly. -
First Peacekeeping Operation: UNTSO
United Nations Troop Supervision Organization (UNTSO) was the first peacekeeping operation established by the United Nations. -
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
During Mr. Lie's tenure, the General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris. Its entire text was composed in less than two years, during a time when the world was divided into Eastern and Western blocks.
Each year, the milestone document is commemorated on 10 December, Human Rights Day. -
State of Israel & Arab States Cease-fire
A UN envoy, Ralph Bunche secures cease-fire between the new State of Israel and Arab States. -
United Nations Birthday Cornerstone Laying Ceremony
During a special open-air General Assembly meeting on UN Day, Secretary-General Trygve Lie and Chief Architect Wallace K. Harrison seal the cornerstone of the permanent UN headquarters in New York. -
Ralph Bunche: Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Ralph Bunche received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his late 1940s mediation in Israel.
He was the first African American and person of color to be so honored in the history of the prize. -
Korean Armistice Agreement
Security Council, acting in the absence of the Soviet Union, calls on Member States to help southern part of Korea repel invasion from the north.
The Korean Armistice Agreement is signed on 27 July 1953 by the UN Command and the Chinese-North Korean Command. -
Second Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld (Sweden)
The General Assembly nominates Dag Hammarskjöld as Secretary General of the United Nations.
Mr. Hammarskjöld serves as Secretary-General from 10 April 1953 to 18 September 1961 as his term is cut short by a tragic fatal plane crash. -
GA Installs Dag Hammarskjöld as the UNSG
Outgoing Secretary-General Trygve Lie introduces Mr. Hammarskjöld as General Assembly President Lester B. Pearson administers the oath of office.
"The pursuit of peace and progress cannot end in a few years in either victory or defeat. The pursuit of peace and progress, with its trials and its errors, its successes and its setbacks, can never be relaxed and never abandoned." - Dag Hammarskjöld -
UNHCR: Nobel Peace Prize Winner
UN High Commissioner for Refugees wins first of two Nobel Peace Prizes, for its work with European refugees.
The UNHCR "shows us that the unfortunate foreigner is one of us; it teaches us to understand that sympathy with other human beings, even if they are separated from us by national frontiers, is the foundation upon which a lasting peace must be built." - The Nobel Committee -
First UN Emergency Force (UNEF)
First Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly meets on the Suez Canal crisis and, on 5 November, decides to establish the first UN peace-keeping force, the UN Emergency Force (UNEF).
With the deployment of the first full-fledged peacekeeping force, Dag Hammarskjöld co-authors the concept of peacekeeping that the world would know for decades.