In 1851, Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, organised the first World’s Fair held at the Great Exhibition of London. As the World’s Fair attracted scholars from different parts of Europe, Prince Albert began the task of influencing public opinion favourably towards the standardisation of international statistics. One of these scholars was the Belgian astronomer and statistician Adolphe Quetelet, who became convinced of the necessity for an international congress to unify the various methods of statistical measurement across different nations. Upon his return to Brussels, Quetelet wrote to Prince Albert expressing his desire to collaborate in the creation of an international statistical congress. Aided by members of the Belgian Statistical Commission, Quetelet and Prince Albert agreed to work together to create the First International Statistical Congress in Brussels.