The UN honored Dag Hammarskjold.

Yesterday, the UN in New York honored the 50th anniversary of the death of Dag Hammarskjöld.  

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  Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961) was a Swedish diplomat, economist, and author. An early Secretary-General of the United Nations, he served from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961. He is the only person to have been awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize. Hammarskjöld remains the only U.N. Secretary-General to die in office, and his death occurred en route to cease-fire negotiations. Praised by many, President of the United States John F. Kennedy called Hammarskjöld “the greatest statesman of our century."

• The UN honors Dag Hammarskjold
  Sunday, September 18, will mark the exact date when Hammarskjold – then Secretary-General of the UN – died in a fatal plane crash near Ndola, Northern Rhodesia (today’s Zambia) while on a peace mission to Congo.

• At the UN, a wreath was laid by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in the Visitors Lobby outside the Meditation Room. Also the opening meeting of the Sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 13 was devoted to a tribute to Hammarskjöld.