Died: September 18, 1961 (aged 56) Cause of Death: An airplane crash while on diplomatic mission in Africa
Historical Events
1953-03-31 UN Security Council nominates Dag Hammarskjöld for Secretary-General
1953-04-07 UN General Assembly begins session that will elect Dag Hammarskjöld of Sweden as Secretary-General
1953-04-10 Dag Hammarskjöld becomes the 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations
1956-11-07 Suez Crisis ends with a ceasefire as the United Nations Emergency Force is established at instigation of Canadian diplomat Lester B. Pearson and UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld
1957-09-26 Dag Hammarskjöld re-elected secretary-general of UN
1961-09-18 Transair Sweden DC-6 passenger aircraft chartered by the United Nations for transit to cease-fire negotiations during the Congo Crisis, crashed near Ndola, Northern Rhodesia (present-day Zambia), killing 16, including UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, and 15 others; official inquiries never determined the cause
1961-11-03 UN General Assembly unanimously elects U Thant as acting Secretary-General after the death of Dag Hammarskjöld in a plane crash
1998-08-19 South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission chairperson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, releases documents revealing an alleged plot by Western countries to assassinate UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld of Sweden
Quotes by Dag Hammarskjöld
"Never, for the sake of peace and quiet, deny your own experience or convictions."
António Guterres
Ban Ki-moon
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Kofi Annan
Kurt Waldheim
U Thant