Milestones: a selective chronology

UN Chronicle, Sept, 1995

Inter-Allied Declaration

Signed in London on 12 June 1941, the Inter-Allied Declaration - "to work together, with other free peoples, both in war and peace" - was a first step towards the establishment of the United Nations.

Atlantic Charter

On 14 August 194 1, 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 HMS Prince of Wales, "somewhere at sea", is known as the Atlantic Charter.

Declaration by 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 and Teheran Conferences

In a declaration signed in Moscow on 30 October 1943, 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. That goal was reaffirmed at the meeting of the leaders of the United States, the USSR, and the United Kingdom at Teheran on 1 December 1943.

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 meetings 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.

24 October 1945

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.

10 January 1946

First General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, opens in Central Hall, Westminster, London.

17 January 1946

Security Council meets for the first time in London, adopting its rules of procedure.

24 January 1946

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.

1 February 1946

Trygve Lie of Norway becomes first Secretary-General.

June 1948

First UN observer mission established in Palestine - the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO).

10 December 1948

General Assembly adopts Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

7 January 1949

A UN envoy, Ralph Bunche, secures cease-fire between the new State of Israel and Arab States.

24 October 1949

Cornerstone laid for present UN Headquarters in New York City.

27 June 1950

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.

1 November 1956

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).

September 1960

17 newly independent States, 16 from Africa, join the UN - the biggest increase in membership in any one year.

18 September 1961

Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold dies in an aircraft crash while on mission to Congo.

7 August 1963

Security Council votes voluntary arms embargo against South Africa.

4 March 1964

Security Council approves dispatch of peace-keeping force to Cyprus.

27 October 1966

General Assembly strips South Africa of its mandate to govern South-West Africa (Namibia).

16 December 1966

Mandatory sanctions are imposed against Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) by the Security Council.

22 November 1967

Following the six-day war in June 1967, the Security Council, after lengthy negotiations, adopts resolution 242 (1967), as the basis for achieving peace in the Middle East.

12 June 1968

General Assembly approves Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and calls for its ratification.

4 January 1969

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination comes into force.

25 October 1971

General Assembly votes to seat representatives of the People's Republic of China.

June 1972

The first UN Environment Conference is held in Stockholm, Sweden, leading to the establishment of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), headquartered in Nairobi.