The 1941 Atlantic Charter was a World War II alliance and model for the UN

How Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill shaped the postwar world

The Yalta Conference was a pivotal 1945 meeting between Allied leaders that helped shape the postwar global order and laid the groundwork for the founding of the United Nations.

The formation of the UN elevated the US on the world stage

This podcast episode of "To the Best of My Ability" from the National WWII Museum goes behind the scenes of the United Nations' founding from the American perspective. It explores how FDR's vision for global peace took shape, how Truman carried it forward, and how Eleanor Roosevelt helped define human rights—set against the backdrop of wartime diplomacy, Cold War tensions, and the San Francisco Conference, where the UN Charter was signed.

Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 speech framed World War II as a global fight for universal rights

Eleven months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt outlined four fundamental freedoms that, in his words, people "everywhere in the world" ought to enjoy—speech, worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

The United Nations was founded in San Francisco in 1945

The 1945 San Francisco Conference brought together delegates from 50 nations to draft the United Nations Charter, laying the foundation for the UN. This archival footage from the UN captures the event's atmosphere, showcasing firsthand reactions and the global hope for peace after World War II.

Watch the historic treaty signing that established NATO in 1949

NATO was created with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on April 4, 1949, in Washington, DC. The clip embedded in the webpage includes a newsreel with an excerpt from US President Harry Truman’s speech celebrating the historic day.

Roosevelt chaired more than 3,000 hours of debate to produce the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Roosevelt led the drafting committee for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, guiding representatives from 18 nations through debate on conflicting ideas about rights, government, and citizenship. The General Assembly unanimously adopted the final document in December 1948.

The Bretton Woods conference in 1944 created the foundations of the modern global economy

In July 1944, 44 nations gathered in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to create a new postwar economic order. The conference led to the creation of the IMF and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development—now known as the World Bank.

The League of Nations was the predecessor to the UN—and the US never joined

The League of Nations—established in 1920 after World War I—was the first global organization aimed at maintaining world peace. Although US President Woodrow Wilson championed its creation, the United States never joined.

The treaty's Article 5 requires mutual defense, but not necessarily military action

Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty established NATO’s principle of collective defense. This resource examines the historical context, legal interpretations, and practical applications of this commitment, including its sole invocation after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The origin of the National Science Foundation and why World War II led to its founding

Before World War II, research institutions were funded by endowments or private companies whose priorities stifled the curiosity-driven science that fueled significant breakthroughs and innovation. The NSF was established in 1950 to promote independent scientific progress through basic research, which is focused on knowledge acquisition rather than commercial applications, conducted at national colleges and universities.

Truman's decision to enter the Korean War without congressional authorization marked a major shift in presidential war powers

Rather than seeking a declaration of war, Truman sent troops to Korea under his own authority, citing the UN Charter and his role as commander in chief. The decision set a precedent that subsequent presidents have relied on ever since.

The 1951 Refugee Convention established international refugee rights and state obligations amid mass World War II displacement

The international treaty defines refugee status and outlines refugees' entitled rights while establishing state obligations to protect them. The UNHCR explains the convention's significance in creating the legal framework governing refugee protection worldwide.

193 nations are members of the United Nations

The UN's Member States webpage provides an alphabetical list of all 193 member countries, along with the exact dates they were admitted. Take a look at how the UN has expanded over time and understand each nation's place in the global organization.

The ACLU was founded in 1920 in direct response to the suppression of speech during World War I

The mass arrest and prosecution of anti-war activists, socialists, and immigrants under the Espionage and Sedition Acts prompted a group of civil libertarians to form the American Civil Liberties Union to defend constitutional rights.

The treaty that ended the First World War laid the groundwork for the Second

On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles officially ended World War I by demanding severe reparations, territorial losses, military restrictions, and the infamous “war guilt clause” against Germany. However, its harsh terms fostered deep resentment, economic instability, and political turmoil—ultimately becoming a catalyst for World War II.

Manhattan Project explained

Driven by fears of a Nazi nuclear bomb, the Manhattan Project united leading scientists to build the first atomic weapons. Its success ended World War II, caused catastrophic human loss, and launched the nuclear age that reshaped global politics and science.

The National Security Council advises the president on foreign policy and national defense

Created in 1947, the NSC coordinates military, diplomatic, and intelligence policy matters. Chaired by the president, it includes key Cabinet officials and senior advisers who shape American responses to global crises and security threats.

The WEF’s ‘Davos Manifesto’ is a set of guiding principles for the event

In 2020, these principles were updated for the first time in more than 40 years to include “stakeholder capitalism,” the idea that a company’s purpose is “to engage all its stakeholders in shared and sustained value creation.”

The Federal Reserve Act's foundation was laid in a secretive meeting at the world's most prestigious club

Republican Sen. Nelson Aldrich of Rhode Island organized a highly secretive meeting of the minds at the world’s most prestigious club on Jekyll Island, Georgia, where a who’s who in the financial world hashed out details over the course of a week.

In 1914, the Financial Times asked readers to redraw Europe for cash prizes

Two months in World War I, the newspaper invited readers to sketch postwar borders and submit peace terms for cash prizes. The contest captured public attempts to predict a new world order and foreshadowed modern crowdsourced forecasting. It's a wild look at how uncertain Europe's future was at the time.

Ben Franklin’s edit helped define the Declaration’s philosophy

When Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration, he wrote that its truths were “sacred and undeniable.” Benjamin Franklin urged replacing that phrase with “self-evident,” grounding the document in reason rather than religious authority and sharpening its Enlightenment logic.

World War II innovations helped advance car racing

Modern American auto racing began in the 1920s with bootleggers modifying cars to outrun authorities. World War II innovations like better engines and surplus parts fueled post-war racing. By 1947, Bill France Sr. founded NASCAR, creating a unified league with consistent rules, transforming stock car racing into one of America’s favorite sports.

Japan had the world's best carrier aviation in 1941

In late 1941, Japan possessed the world’s most powerful carrier fleet and the best-trained naval aviators, giving it a short-term edge over the US. But Japan couldn’t replace ships or pilots quickly, and US industry would soon outbuild it.

Britain's PM signaled the acceptance of African decolonization in 1960

This audio excerpt captures Harold Macmillan’s 1960 “Wind of Change” speech, in which he acknowledged rising African nationalism and declared that Britain would not resist decolonization—a pivotal moment signaling the Empire’s accelerating retreat from the continent.

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and its successor, the WTO, was formed to reduce trade barriers between nations

Data from the WTO shows that this effort was successful, resulting in a quadrupling of global trade in goods and a reduction of tariff rates of member states by 44%. This indicates that the post-World War II international efforts to create a more liberal trade environment have been successful.

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

In 1945, Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and legendary animator Walt Disney began collaborating on a short film that was not completed until 2003, years after both men had died.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Brian Wilson wrote the Beach Boys' 'Don't Worry Baby' for the Ronettes, but the legendary girl group rejected it.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

A small portion of The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother,' an obscure '60s gospel record, is the basis for thousands of hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled records ever that's informally known as 'the Amen break.'

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

In recent years a child anxiety expert has created and tested a novel phobia and anxiety treatment approach for children, focused on changing how parents respond to the fears.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island