October 24th is International United Nations Day. 

71 years–for many exuberant Cubs fans, the number marks the long wait they have patiently endured since the last time their team made it to the World Series (way back in 1945) and win their first title since 1908. 

1945 was a different time: even while Chicago personally mourned after the Cubs’ loss at the World Series, which was a “seemingly” long 37 years since their last title, they, along with the rest of the country, celebrated the end of World War II. The war ended in Europe with the fall of Nazi Germany in May, and the end of the war overall in September with the surrender of Japan. 

On October 24th, 1945, 71 years from this very day, after the end of a brutal war between nations, the United Nations was created.

Then, it was a charter ratified by 51 countries, looking to avoid the conflict and horrible, devastating violence that had just killed millions and millions in a world war not even a year before.

Now, the UN includes 193 countries, with separate agencies including UNICEF, UNESCO, World Health Program, World Food Program, and the World Bank Group. There are six principal sections, or organs:

• The General Council, in which each country, led by a Secretary General, work together to oversee the state of the UN in yearly sessions
• The Security Council, for country heads to decide resolutions for security and peace in the world
• There are 5 permanent members of the Security Council: the US, Russia, France, the UK, and China, who hold the right to veto any proposed resolution 
• The International Court of Justice, the judicial sect that resolves international conflict over issues such as land, the use of nuclear weapons, armed activity in different countries 
• The Economic and Social Council, that promotes economic and social improvement and cooperation among countries 
• The Secretariat, which provides studies and facilities for UN research
• And the now-inactive Trustee Council, in which territories that no country had claim over were overseen by the UN (however, all these territories have gained independence or self-government since) 

The UN encourages that every member of the UN (in which 193/206 countries a member, is almost the whole world) recognize the day as a public holiday. Tomorrow, in the United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York, there will be a concert featuring a Korean orchestra, Harlem gospel choir, and Hungarian opera among many other performers in a celebration of the amazing international unity that no one would have ever expected possible 72 years ago. 

Kofi Annan, the Secretary General from 1997 to 2006, summed up the indispensable need for the UN, and the hope it provides:

“More than ever before in human history, we share a common destiny. We can master it only if we face it together. And that, my friends, is why we have the United Nations.”

Happy UN Day, everyone!