There have been many memorable moments in the 80-year history of the United Nations, both at its headquarters in New York and at its far-flung global operations.
Here are photos of some of the U.N.’s history-making events as the world body marks the anniversary of its founding on June 26, 1945, when the U.N. Charter was signed by 50 countries in San Francisco.
Most of these moments made headlines — but for very different reasons.
June 1945: Signing of the U.N. Charter
Delegates from 50 countries met in San Francisco in the ashes of World War II to establish an international organization to prevent a repetition of such a conflict and promote global peace. The U.N. Charter remains the bedrock of the United Nations, which now has 193 member countries.
The charter’s opening words express determination “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.”
July 1950: First U.N. attempt at collective security
North Korean forces invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. Twelve days later, the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution authorizing the United States to establish and lead military forces to repel the attack and restore peace on the Korean Peninsula.
The U.N. Command was the world’s first attempt at collective security under the new United Nations. It still operates because there is an armistice — but still no peace treaty — between North Korea and South Korea.
October 1960: Soviet leader pounds his fists
It was the height of the Cold War and the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, went to the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly and listened in growing annoyance to criticism of the Communist bloc.
In one intervention, in which he repeatedly banged his fist on the podium in the assembly hall, he declared: “You will not be able to smother the voice of the peoples.”
November 1974: Arafat comes armed to the U.N.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was invited to speak at the United Nations even though the territories were not a U.N. member nation.
Arafat told diplomats in the General Assembly chamber, “Today, I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter’s gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.”
August 2003: The U.N. mission in Iraq is bombed
The bombing of U.N. headquarters in the Canal Hotel in Baghdad was the deadliest terrorist attack against U.N. staff in its history and killed many team members as well as Sergio Vieira de Mello, a rising star who was U.N. human rights chief and temporarily headed its Iraq operations.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy that it “marked a change in the way humanitarians operate.”
September 2009: Gadhafi rips up the U.N. Charter
Moammar Gadhafi, the autocratic ruler of oil rich Libya, ripped up the document in his only address to the U.N. General Assembly’s annual gathering of world leaders — a rambling 90-minute speech that went way beyond his allotted 15 minutes.
He said he did not recognize the authority of the U.N. Charter. Then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown retorted in his speech later: “I stand here to reaffirm the United Nations Charter, not to tear it up.”
January 2010: The U.N. heads to scene of the devastating Haiti earthquake
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, killed 102 U.N. staff members, including the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti and his deputy when the building housing their offices was destroyed.
Then-U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the scene in Port-au-Prince days afterward.
The U.N. called it “one of the darkest days” in its history. Haiti’s government put the death toll at 316,000, while some estimates were lower.
September 2010: Iranian leader holds up the Quran and the Bible
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticized Americans who threatened to burn the Muslim holy book, saying, “The truth cannot be burned.” He then held up the Quran and the Bible and said he respected both of them.
The United States and about 30 other countries walked out during Ahmadinejad’s speech after he falsely claimed the U.S. masterminded the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.
September 2012: Netanyahu expresses concern about Iran nuclear ambitions
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held up a large, cartoonish diagram of a bomb divided into sections, saying the section marked 70% was where Iran was on its way to enriching uranium for a nuclear weapon.
He urged the world to draw a clear “red line” under the other section marked 90% and to stop Iran’s nuclear program, asserting that the country would be that far along by the following year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.