UN General Assembly
1963

94. International life has altered greatly as changes have taken place in the techniques of transport and communication. In the first place, the conquest of the air has made it possible for a jet-propelled aircraft to reach any point of the globe in less than twenty-four hours. In 1906 an aircraft could fly no faster than forty miles an hour and the feat of the Frenchman Blériot, in crossing the English Channel, stirred the whole world. Until well on in our century telecommunications depended on aerial or submarine cables which limited their range. Today the discovery of Hertzian waves and their application by Marconi to communications has led to the internationalization of news reporting. The world has grown smaller and solidarity has increased with the internationalization of human activity. This has given rise to something hitherto unknown in history: the development of a world public opinion which acts as a stimulus to and a brake on world events, in a similar manner to domestic public opinion.