As the United Nations turns 80, some key moments in its history

UNITED NATIONS -- There person been galore memorable moments successful the 80-year past of the United Nations, some astatine its office successful New York and astatine its far-flung planetary operations.

Here are photos of immoderate of the U.N.'s history-making events arsenic the satellite assemblage marks the day of its founding connected June 26, 1945, erstwhile the U.N. Charter was signed by 50 countries successful San Francisco.

Most of these moments made headlines — but for precise antithetic reasons.

Delegates from 50 countries met successful San Francisco successful the ashes of World War II to found an planetary enactment to forestall a repetition of specified a struggle and beforehand planetary peace. The U.N. Charter remains the bedrock of the United Nations, which present has 193 subordinate countries.

The charter's opening words explicit determination “to prevention succeeding generations from the scourge of war.”

North Korean forces invaded South Korea connected June 25, 1950. Twelve days later, the U.N. Security Council adopted a solution authorizing the United States to found and pb subject forces to repel the onslaught and reconstruct bid connected the Korean Peninsula.

The U.N. Command was the world’s archetypal effort astatine corporate information nether the caller United Nations. It inactive operates due to the fact that determination is an armistice — but inactive nary bid pact — betwixt North Korea and South Korea.

It was the tallness of the Cold War and the person of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, went to the yearly gathering of satellite leaders astatine the U.N. General Assembly and listened successful increasing annoyance to disapproval of the Communist bloc.

In 1 intervention, successful which helium repeatedly banged his fist connected the podium successful the assembly hall, helium declared: “You volition not beryllium capable to smother the dependable of the peoples.”

Palestinian person Yasser Arafat was invited to talk astatine the United Nations adjacent though the territories were not a U.N. subordinate nation.

Arafat told diplomats successful the General Assembly chamber, “Today, I person travel bearing an olive subdivision and a state fighter’s gun. Do not fto the olive subdivision autumn from my hand.”

The bombing of U.N. office successful the Canal Hotel successful Baghdad was the deadliest violent onslaught against U.N. unit successful its past and killed galore squad members arsenic good arsenic Sergio Vieira de Mello, a rising star.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said connected the 20th anniversary of the calamity that it “marked a alteration successful the mode humanitarians operate.”

Moammar Gadhafi, the autocratic ruler of lipid affluent Libya, ripped up the papers successful his lone code to the U.N. General Assembly’s yearly gathering of satellite leaders — a rambling 90-minute code that went mode beyond his allotted 15 minutes.

He said helium did not admit the authorization of the U.N. Charter. Then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown retorted successful his code later: “I basal present to reaffirm the United Nations Charter, not to teardrop it up.”

The magnitude 7.0 earthquake successful January 2010 killed 102 U.N. unit members, including the caput of the U.N. peacekeeping ngo successful Haiti and his lawman erstwhile the gathering lodging their offices was destroyed.

The U.N. called it “one of the darkest days" successful its history. Haiti’s authorities enactment the decease toll astatine 316,000, portion immoderate estimates were lower.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticized Americans who threatened to pain the Muslim beatified book, saying, “The information cannot beryllium burned.” He past held up the Quran and the Bible and said helium respected some of them.

The United States and astir 30 different countries walked retired during Ahmadinejad’s code aft helium falsely claimed the U.S. masterminded the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which killed astir 3,000 people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held up a large, cartoonish diagram of a weaponry divided into sections, saying the conception marked 70% was wherever Iran was connected its mode to enriching uranium for a atomic weapon.

He urged the satellite to gully a wide “red line” nether the different conception marked 90% and to halt Iran’s atomic program, asserting that the state would beryllium that acold on by the pursuing year.

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