The 100th Anniversary of the Peace Palace

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Peace Palace, which houses the International Court of Justice in the Hague. The Peace Palace also houses the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), the Hague Academy of International Law and the Peace Palace Library. The idea for the building emerged after the First Hague Peace Conference of 1899. Originally intended to house the PCA and the library, the  construction of the palace was financed by Andrew Carnegie.

Today is also the anniversary of the death of Hugo Grotius, the so-called “father of international law”. He was born in 1583 and died on August 28 1645. As it happens, the Peace Palace holds one of the greatest collections of the works of Grotius (see details here), including original copies of Grotius’s famous Mare Liberum  and one of only two known original copies of  De iure belli ac pacis (The only other known copy is in the Bodleian Library in Oxford)

Today is also the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a Dream” speech.