International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). The idea for the creation of an international court to arbitrate international disputes first arose during the various conferences that produced the Hague Conventions in the late 19th and early 20th

John Hays Hammond: …1914 to 1915 of the World Court League, an organization that carried on an intensive campaign for an international court, and was chairman of the U.S. Coal Commission in 1922.

Winston Churchill: In and out of office, 1922–29: …autobiographical history of the war, The World Crisis, netted him the £20,000 with which he purchased Chartwell, henceforth his country home in Kent. When he returned to politics it was as a crusading anti-Socialist, but in 1923, when Stanley Baldwin was leading the Conservatives on a protectionist program, Churchill stood,…

history of flight: The headliners: …quartet of single-engine Douglas “World Cruisers” westward toward Asia. These fabric-covered biplanes featured interchangeable landing gear—replacing wheels with floats for water landings. One plane crashed in Alaska, forcing the two-man crew to hike out of a snowbound wilderness. Near the end of the expedition, a second aircraft, en route…

World Cup, in football (soccer), quadrennial tournament of men’s national teams that determines the sport’s world champion. It is likely the most popular sporting event in the world, drawing billions of television viewers every tournament. Countries worldwide compete vigorously, many years in

World Cup, in skiing, trophy awarded annually since 1967 to the top male and female Alpine skiers. In World Cup competition, skiers accumulate points in the three Alpine events (downhill, slalom, and giant slalom) at designated meets throughout the winter. The winners are the male and female skiers

World Cup, in golf, trophy awarded to the winner of an annual competition for two-man professional teams representing nations. It was initiated in 1953 by the Canadian industrialist John Jay Hopkins. The event involves teams from more than 40 nations in a four-day, 72-hole stroke competition. The

Diego Forlán: …the standout player at the 2010 World Cup.

skateboarding: World Cup Skateboarding, founded in 1994, oversees the biggest street and vert skateboarding competitions, including events in Australia, Brazil, Canada, and the United States and throughout Europe and Asia. Skateboarding made its Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games (delayed until 2021 because of the…

World Customs Organization (WCO), intergovernmental organization established as the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC) in 1952 to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of customs administrations worldwide. In 1948 a study group of the Committee for European Economic Cooperation, a precursor of

darts: …the founder member of the World Darts Federation (WDF), which represents more than 500,000 darts players in 50 countries. The major championships are the Winmau World Masters, the WDF World Cup, and the Embassy World Professional Darts Championship.

the Dreaming, mythological period of time that had a beginning but no foreseeable end, during which the natural environment was shaped and humanized by the actions of mythic beings. Many of these beings took the form of human beings or of animals (“totemic”); some changed their forms. They were

World Development Indicators (WDI), comprehensive set of data and statistics published annually by the World Bank that allows for the evaluation of the development of most countries in the world. The availability of World Development Indicators (WDI) enables more-informed public and private policy

Library of Congress: … proposed a project called the World Digital Library. Its goal was to make available to anyone with access to the Internet digitized texts and images of “unique and rare materials from libraries and other cultural institutions around the world.” It was designed to be searchable in seven languages—Arabic, Chinese, English,…

World Disarmament Conference, conference convened in Geneva in 1932–34 and attended by delegates of more than 60 countries for the purpose of disarmament. The conference ended without resolution. The conference was among the international initiatives that came about as a response to the devastation

Charles Simic: …Pulitzer Prize for poetry for The World Doesn’t End (1989). His other honours include the Wallace Stevens Award (2007) and the Frost Medal (2011).

international trade: The new mercantilism: …of Nations organized the first World Economic Conference in May 1927. Twenty-nine states, including the main industrial countries, subscribed to an international convention that was the most minutely detailed and balanced multilateral trade agreement approved to date. It was a precursor of the arrangements made under the General Agreement on…

World Economic Forum (WEF), international organization that convenes an annual winter conference, traditionally in Davos, Switz., for the discussion of global commerce, economic development, political concerns, and important social issues. Some of the world’s most prominent business leaders,

Yevgeny Primakov: …named deputy director of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), the country’s top foreign policy think tank, and in 1977 he was appointed director of the Institute of Oriental Studies. He became director of IMEMO in 1985. A leading architect of the policy of perestroika (“restructuring”), he…

World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), international fellowship of organizations that hold biblically conservative interpretations of the Christian faith. From 1846 until the mid-1900s, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) was primarily the venture of its founding member, the British Evangelical

World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), international fellowship of organizations that hold biblically conservative interpretations of the Christian faith. From 1846 until the mid-1900s, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) was primarily the venture of its founding member, the British Evangelical

graphic design: Postwar graphic design in Japan: …proposal (1967) for the Japanese World Expo ’70 in Ōsaka, for example, displays his ability to combine 20th-century Modernist formal experiments with a traditional Japanese sense of harmony.

Expo Shanghai 2010, world exposition in Shanghai, China, that ran between May 1 and October 31, 2010. One of the largest world fairs or expositions ever mounted, it also was the most heavily attended of any such events. Shanghai was selected as the host city of the exposition in December 2002 by

fair trade: History: …Alternative Trade (IFAT; later renamed World Fair Trade Organization) was born, bringing together 38 fair trade organizations under one roof. One year later, in 1990, the European Fair Trade Association (EFTA) was formally established by 11 fair trade import organizations in nine European countries. In 1998 the FLO, IFAT, NEWS…

fashion industry: World fashion: Most people in the world today wear what can be described as “world fashion,” a simplified and very low-cost version of Western clothing, often a T-shirt with pants or a skirt, manufactured on a mass scale. However, there are also numerous smaller and…

mental health: As noted by the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH), the concept of optimum mental health refers not to an absolute or ideal state but to the best possible state insofar as circumstances are alterable. Mental health is regarded as a condition of the individual, relative to the capacities…

museum: Support organizations: …advice and assistance, and the World Federation of Friends of Museums was founded in 1975 to encourage worldwide cooperation among such societies.

World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), leftist-oriented international labour organization founded in 1945 by the World Trade Union Congress. Its principal organizers were the British Trades Union Congress, the U.S. Congress of Industrial Organizations, and the All-Union Central Congress of Trade

World Food Council (WFC), United Nations (UN) organization established by the General Assembly in December 1974 upon the recommendation of the World Food Conference. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, the WFC was designed as a coordinating body for national ministries of agriculture to help alleviate

Norman Ernest Borlaug: In 1986 Borlaug created the World Food Prize to honour individuals who have contributed to improving the availability and quality of food worldwide. In constant demand as a consultant, Borlaug served on numerous committees and advisory panels on agriculture, population control, and renewable resources. He also taught at Texas A&M…

World Food Programme (WFP), organization established in 1961 by the United Nations (UN) to help alleviate world hunger. Its headquarters are in Rome, Italy. In 2020 the World Food Programme (WFP) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace “for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to

Alfredo Bryce Echenique: …Un mundo para Julius (1970; A World for Julius), was acclaimed by critics and the public alike and won the Premio Nacional de Literatura in 1972. Among his best-known novels were Tantas veces Pedro (1977; “So Many Times Pedro”), La vida exagerada de Martín Romaña (1981; “The Exaggerated Life of…

government: Prospects in the 21st century: …suggested convincingly either how a world government could be set up without another world war or how, if such a government did somehow come peacefully into existence, it could be organized so as to be worthy of its name. Even effective global cooperation among national governments can be extremely difficult,…

Weltschmerz, the prevailing mood of melancholy and pessimism associated with the poets of the Romantic era that arose from their refusal or inability to adjust to those realities of the world that they saw as destructive of their right to subjectivity and personal freedom—a phenomenon thought to

idealism: Types of philosophical idealism: …and whose theory of the world ground, in which all things find their unity, was widely accepted by theistic philosophers and Protestant theologians. For Lotze, the world ground is the transcendent synthesis of an evolutionary world process, which is both mechanical and teleological (purposive); it is an infinite spiritual being,…

public health: International organizations: …under the direction of the World Health Assembly, which has representatives from the member states. The first assembly gave consideration to diseases and problems that exist in large areas of the world and that lend themselves to international action. Malaria, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted disease, the promotion of health, environmental conditions…

World Health Organization: …establishment, April 7, 1948, as World Health Day.

World Health Organization (WHO), specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) established in 1948 to further international cooperation for improved public health conditions. Although it inherited specific tasks relating to epidemic control, quarantine measures, and drug standardization from the

World Heart Day, annual observance and celebration held on September 29 that is intended to increase public awareness of cardiovascular diseases, including their prevention and their global impact. In 1999 the World Heart Federation (WHF), in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO),

World Heart Day: In 1999 the World Heart Federation (WHF), in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO), announced the establishment of World Heart Day. The idea for this annual event was conceived by Antoni Bayés de Luna, president of WHF from 1997–99. World Heart Day was originally (until 2011) observed…

World Heritage site: Origins of the World Heritage Convention: The primary impetus for the adoption of the World Heritage Convention was the construction of the Aswan High Dam. In 1959 the governments of the United Arab Republic (U.A.R.; now Egypt and Syria) and Sudan turned to UNESCO for help in salvaging…

Everglades National Park: …the park was on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger from 1993 to 2007. In 2010 it was again added to the list, because of concerns about decreases in water flowing into the Everglades and increases in pollution levels there.

World Heritage site, any of various areas or objects inscribed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List. The sites are designated as having “outstanding universal value” under the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural

world history, branch of history concerned with the study of historical phenomena that transcend national, regional, or cultural boundaries or distinctions between peoples or with the study of history from a global, comparative, or cross-cultural perspective. Although the academic study of world

ice hockey: The National Hockey League: A new 12-team league, the World Hockey Association (WHA), was formed in 1972, and the ensuing rivalry caused an escalation in players’ salaries. In 1979 the NHL, which had grown to 17 teams, merged with the WHA to become a 21-team league; by 2017, 31 teams played in the NHL.…

Joy Division/New Order: …called acid house, and “World in Motion,” the official national theme for the 1990 World Cup, gave them their first U.K. number one hit. “Regret,” released in 1993, was nearly as successful.

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), international organization designed to promote the worldwide protection of both industrial property (inventions, trademarks, and designs) and copyrighted materials (literary, musical, photographic, and other artistic works). The organization,

Albert Renger-Patzsch: In his book Die Welt ist schön (1928; “The World Is Beautiful”), he showed images from both nature and industry, all treated in his clear, transparent style. Such images were closely related to the paintings of the Neue Sachlichkeit movement of painters, who created detached and literal renderings…

Thomas L. Friedman: His next book, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century (2005), which documents and analyzes the history of globalization, was met with both commercial success and critical acclaim. Beginning in 2003, Friedman commented extensively on the Iraq War. Although he originally supported the U.S.-led…

Jackie Collins: The resulting romp, The World Is Full of Married Men (1968; film 1979), became a succès de scandale as a result of its frank depictions of extramarital sex. It was banned in Australia and South Africa.

James Michener: …as was his 1992 memoir, The World Is My Home. His last completed book was A Century of Sonnets (1997).

The World Is Too Much with Us, sonnet by William Wordsworth, published in 1807 in Poems, in Two Volumes. True to the tenets of English Romanticism, the poem decries the narrowness of modern daily life, especially its disconnection from and ignorance of the beauty of nature: The poet concludes with

World Jewish Congress (WJC), international organization of Jewish communities, Jewish organizations, and individuals founded in Geneva in 1936. The WJC works to strengthen the bonds between Jews and to protect their rights and safety. It also works with governments and other authorities on matters

World Jewish Congress: …the group also cofounded the World Jewish Restitution Organization, which is dedicated to restoring Jewish property that was seized during World War II. The WJC is a strong political supporter of Israel.

Magnus Hirschfeld: In 1928 Hirschfeld founded the World League for Sexual Reform (WLSR), which had its roots in an early conference that he had organized in 1921, the First International Conference for Sexual Reform on a Scientific Basis. The WSLR called for reform of sex legislations, the right to contraception and sex…

American football: Showmanship on the field: …League of American Football (later NFL Europe; disbanded in 2007). The African American athletes who increasingly dominated football also brought a new style to the game. The beginnings of end zone dances in the 1970s escalated into highly choreographed routines, followed by other attention-grabbing gestures by defensive as well as…

Halldór Laxness: …economic independence; and Heimsljós (1937–40; World Light), a four-volume novel about the struggles of a peasant poet. These novels criticized Icelandic society from a socialist viewpoint, and they attracted a great deal of controversy. Although he had initially rejected the literary tradition of his native country, Laxness later embraced the…

relativity: Curved space-time and geometric gravitation: …the shortest natural paths, or geodesics—much as the shortest path between any two points on Earth is not a straight line, which cannot be constructed on that curved surface, but the arc of a great circle route. In Einstein’s theory, space-time geodesics define the deflection of light and the orbits…

Maccabiah Games: …from 1932, sponsored by the World Maccabi Union, an international Jewish sports organization founded in 1921. Events held are such Olympic events as athletics (track and field), swimming, water polo, fencing, boxing, wrestling, football (soccer), basketball, tennis, table tennis, and volleyball and such non-Olympic events as karate.

World Malaria Day, annual observance held on April 25 to raise awareness of the global effort to control and ultimately eradicate malaria. World Malaria Day, which was first held in 2008, developed from Africa Malaria Day, an event that had been observed since 2001 by African governments. The

world map, graphical representation, using projection, that depicts Earth’s exterior on a flat surface. World maps usually show political features, such as country borders, and physical features. World maps can also be used to present data on average temperature, soil type, rainfall distribution,

medical association: …largest such organization is the World Medical Association, which has more than 60 member associations. It was founded in 1947.

World Meteorological Organization: The World Meteorological Congress, which consists of representatives of all 185 members, meets at least every four years to set general policy and adopt regulations. A 36-member Executive Council meets annually and implements policy. The Secretariat, headed by a secretary-general appointed by the congress for a…

World Meteorological Organization: …WMO was created by the World Meteorological Convention, which was adopted at the 12th director’s conference of the IMO in 1947. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the WMO began operations in 1951.

World Meteorological Organization (WMO), specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) created to promote the establishment of a worldwide meteorological observation system, the application of meteorology to other fields, and the development of national meteorological services in less-developed

World Methodist Council (WMC), cooperative organization of Methodist churches that provides a means for consultation and cooperation on an international level. It maintains various committees that are concerned with doctrine, evangelism, education, lay activities, youth, publications, and social

bridge: Bridge tournaments: …the World Mind Games, or Intellympiad, to be held in the Olympic city directly after a Winter or Summer Games.

Christianity: Missionary associations: …and unity reflected in the World Missionary Conference (WMC) held in Edinburgh in 1910. First, missionary “field” conferences affirmed comity (separation of spheres of work), cooperation in Bible translation and missionary councils, and shared sponsorship in major enterprises such as hospitals and colleges. A second stream involved missionary conferences in…

cosmology: Einstein’s model: To derive his 1917 cosmological model, Einstein made three assumptions that lay outside the scope of his equations. The first was to suppose that the universe is homogeneous and isotropic in the large (i.e., the same everywhere on average at any instant in time), an assumption that the English…

global music, broadly speaking, music of the world’s cultures. The term global music replaced world music, which had been adopted in the 1980s to characterize non-English recordings that were released in Great Britain and the United States. Employed primarily by the media and record stores, this

Everglades National Park: …Dry Tortugas National Park) a Biosphere Reserve in 1976 and a World Heritage site in 1979. The park’s area has been expanded several times, most recently in 1989. It encompasses 2,357 square miles (6,105 square km), including most of Florida Bay, and preserves a unique blend of temperate and tropical…

Peter Jennings: …of the three-man team of World News Tonight. He became the show’s sole anchor and senior editor in 1983 and returned to New York. Jennings received many awards, including 16 Emmys. In 2003, while retaining his Canadian citizenship, he became a U.S. citizen. In April 2005, in what was to…

Peter Jennings: …of the three-man team of World News Tonight. He became the show’s sole anchor and senior editor in 1983 and returned to New York. Jennings received many awards, including 16 Emmys. In 2003, while retaining his Canadian citizenship, he became a U.S. citizen. In April 2005, in what was to…

ocean, continuous body of salt water that is contained in enormous basins on Earth’s surface. When viewed from space, the predominance of Earth’s oceans is readily apparent. The oceans and their marginal seas cover nearly 71 percent of Earth’s surface, with an average depth of 3,688 metres (12,100

World Oceans Day: …2002 two conservation organizations, the World Ocean Network and The Ocean Project, first celebrated the day along with their network of zoos, aquariums, and environmental groups around the world. After a petitioning drive guided in large part by those two organizations, the General Assembly of the United Nations formally designated…

World Oceans Day, annual celebration honouring the majesty of Earth’s oceans and the economic, aesthetic, and environmental services they provide. World Oceans Day is celebrated yearly on June 8 to raise awareness of the plight of the oceans and the marine ecosystems they contain. In 1992 in Rio de

Satyajit Ray: The Apu Trilogy: …Unvanquished) and Apur Sansar (1959; The World of Apu). Pather Panchali and its sequels tell the story of Apu, the poor son of a Brahman priest, as he grows from childhood to manhood in a setting that shifts from a small village to the city of Calcutta. Western influences impinge…

George Roy Hill: Film directing: In 1964 Hill directed The World of Henry Orient, which was adapted from a novel by Nora Johnson (who wrote the screenplay with her husband, Nunnally). The charming and original comedy centres on two teenage groupies who are obsessed with a pianist (played by Peter Sellers). It stands in…

Andrew Lang: …of Homeric literature, and his World of Homer (1910) is an important study.

James Roy Newman: …four-volume historical survey of mathematics, The World of Mathematics (1956).

WOMAD, international music and arts foundation known primarily for its festivals, held in multiple locations across the globe each year. WOMAD was conceived in 1980 by a group of individuals—most notably Peter Gabriel (former leader of the British rock band Genesis)—who shared a love of the world’s

Irving Howe: His World of Our Fathers (1976) is a sociocultural study of eastern European Jews who emigrated to the United States between 1880 and 1924. Celebrations and Attacks (1979) is a collection of his critical articles, and A Margin of Hope: An Intellectual Autobiography (1982) deals with…

Richard Quine: In the romance The World of Suzie Wong (1960), William Holden was cast as an aspiring artist anguishing over a prostitute (played by Nancy Kwan). The Notorious Landlady (1962), which Quine wrote with Larry Gelbart, was a black comedy starring Novak and Lemmon, and Paris When It Sizzles…

Charles Wright: The World of the Ten Thousand Things: Selected Poems, 1980–1990 (1990) demonstrates Wright’s experiments with autobiography and his reflections on the literature and history of numerous cultures.

World of Warcraft (WoW), massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) created by the American company Blizzard Entertainment and released on November 14, 2004. Massively multiplayer refers to games in which thousands, even millions, of players may participate online together, typically

World of Wonders, third of a series of novels by Robertson Davies known collectively as The Deptford

Claude Lévi-Strauss: …recognition with Tristes tropiques (1955; A World on the Wane), a literary intellectual autobiography. Other publications included Anthropologie structurale (rev. ed., 1961; Structural Anthropology), La Pensée sauvage (1962; The Savage Mind), and Le Totémisme aujourd’hui (1962; Totemism). His massive Mythologiques appeared in four volumes: Le Cru et le cuit (1964;…

public opinion: World opinion: Near the end of the 20th century, the increasing importance of global telecommunication, trade, and transportation contributed to interest in a new concept of world public opinion, or “world opinion.” The idea began to receive serious academic consideration as scholars noticed certain global…

international relations: Scholarship and policy: …has been manifest in “world order thinking,” which is usually traced to the approach to international relations espoused by President Wilson and set forth in his Fourteen Points for the post-World War I era. Proponents of world order thinking place major, if not primary, emphasis on building international organizations,…

Boy Scouts: The World Organization of the Scout Movement, established in 1920 and now based in Geneva, promotes scouting worldwide. It maintains regional offices in Belgium, Egypt, the Philippines, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, Chile, and Ukraine.

Transcendental Meditation: …became the foundation for the World Plan Executive Council, the international organization that guided the spread of Transcendental Meditation worldwide. Each of the council’s divisions attempted to introduce meditation into a particular area of human life. In the mid-1970s the council introduced the siddha (“miraculous powers”) program, an advanced course…

space-time: …as a “here-now” or a world point. In every inertial reference frame, all physical laws remain unchanged.

World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), cooperative international organization of Congregational, United, and Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Originally known as the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (Presbyterian and Congregational), the group was formed in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1970 by

World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), interdisciplinary professional association founded in 1978 to improve understandings of gender identities and to standardize treatment of transsexual, transgender, and gender-nonconforming people. WPATH was formed by Doctor Harry

New York Rens: The world’s best team: …Harry Wilson mounted the inaugural World Professional Basketball Tournament, sponsored by the Chicago Herald-American, in which the best professional teams—chosen without racial restrictions—would compete. The winning team would receive $1,000 and the title of the world’s best team. Two Black teams were invited to compete: the Rens and their rivals…

swimming: Distance swimming: …amateur and professional swimmers, the World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation was founded. Throughout the 1960s the latter group sanctioned about eight professional marathons annually, the countries most frequently involved being Canada, Egypt, Italy, Argentina, and the United States. The British Long Distance Swimming Association has sponsored races on inland waters…

Sébastien Loeb: …having won a record nine World Rally Championship (WRC) titles (2004–12).

Magnus Carlsen: …same year he won the World Rapid Championship (in which players are given a total of 15 minutes of time with an additional 10 seconds per move) in Dubai, and he won that title again in 2015 in Berlin.

Yurok: …ceremonies were those of the World Renewal cycle, which ensured an abundance of food, riches, and general well-being. This cycle included the recitation of magical formulas, repeating the words of an ancient spirit race, and other acts. The spiritual power to cure disease was granted only to women, giving these…

World Resources Institute (WRI), research institute established in 1982 to promote environmentally sound and socially equitable development. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. The World Resources Institute conducts extensive scientific research and analysis on global environmental and economic