On This Day

1945: U.N. Charter signed

Delegates from nations around the world sign the United Nations Charter on June 26, 1945. Even before celebrations for the end of World War II in Europe commenced, delegates from 51 nations began a 63-day conference in San Francisco to establish the United Nations, an organization designed to help ensure future world peace. The United States proposed establishing the world body in 1942, and the groundwork was laid at an Allied conference held in Washington in 1944. In April 1945, the international conference convened in California, culminating in the signing of the Charter. The first meeting of the U.N. General Assembly occurred in London early the next year.