The U.N. Security Council held its first session in London's Church House with five permanent members and six non-permanent members.

The council establishes its first peacekeeping operation in the Middle East after calling for a halt to the Arab-Israeli War. The United Nations still has troops in the region.

The council authorizes U.N. member nations to send troops to defend South Korea against North Korea's offensive in what came to be known as the Korean War.

The Security Council is expanded to include four additional non-permanent members, bringing the number of members to 15.

The council passes a resolution calling for the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from occupied territories in the Middle East (West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights) in exchange for an end for the Arab-Israeli conflict. The resolution also calls for a "just settlement of the refugee problem."

The council declares Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Golan Heights illegal.

The council adopts a resolution nullifying an Israeli law declaring Jerusalem as its "eternal and indivisible" capital.

The council calls on Iraq to withdraw all troops from Kuwait and authorizes the use of force in the event of Iraqi noncompliance.

The council adopts resolutions condemning Iraq's failure to comply with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and calls for full disclosure of its nuclear programs. The council also mandates that Iraq must halt all nuclear activities and fully cooperate with United Nations and International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors.

The Security Council established the unified task force in Somalia, a coalition of international forces to create an environment in which international assistance could be delivered to the Somali people by "all necessary means."

After failing to take decisive action to end the genocidal violence in Rwanda, the council calls for the establishment of an International Criminal Tribunal to bring the perpetrators of the genocide that killed at least 800,000 to justice.

Following the deadly terrorist attack that killed nearly 3,000 on Sept. 11, 2001, the council adopts a resolution calling for increased international cooperation in the fight against terrorism and for nations to take aggressive steps to combat terrorism including freezing the assets of groups linked to terrorism.

In July, the council adopts a resolution granting U.N. peacekeeping forces exclusion from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

Later that same year, the council in November passes a resolution demanding that Iraq disarm or face "serious consequences."

The Security Council endorses the appointment of a sovereign interim government in Iraq in July.

That same month, the council adopts a resolution condemning the violence in Sudan's Darfur region and demands that the Sudanese government disarm and try Janjaweed militia perpetrators. The resolution also endorses the deployment of international monitors to the region.

In October, the council adopts a resolution setting up a working group to consider measures against individuals involved in or connected with terrorism, beyond the scope of al-Qaida and the Taliban.

-- Compiled by Monica Villavicencio, Online NewsHour