Today in history

December 10
International Human Rights Day
“Let us be clear: torture can never be an instrument to fight terror, for torture is an instrument of terror. […]

Today, on Human Rights Day, let us recommit ourselves to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and let us rededicate ourselves to wiping the scourge of torture from the face of the earth.”

Kofi Annan,
United Nations Secretary-General

1948
The United Nations adopted the Declaration of Human Rights.

1950
American diplomat Ralph J. Bunche became the first Black American to win the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. The award was in recognition of his peace mediation during the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948.

“May there be, in our time, at long last, a world at peace in which we, the people, may for once begin to make full use of the great good that is in us.”
— Ralph Bunche upon accepting the
Nobel Peace Prize, December 10, 1950