Milestones: a selective chronology.

• Position: 50th anniversary of the United Nations - Special 50th Anniversary Edition - Cover Story

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...