The International Day of Peace, also officially known as World Peace Day, is celebrated annually on 21 September. The day was first celebrated in 1981 and is kept by many nations, political groups, military groups, and people. To inaugurate the day, the United Nations Peace Bell is rung at UN Headquarters in New York City. The bell is cast from coins donated by children from all continents except Africa, and was a gift from the United Nations Association of Japan, as “a reminder of the human cost of war“; the inscription on its side reads, “Long live absolute world peace“.
