History
1951 Under the leadership of Eric Morley, the United Kingdom was home to the Miss World Pageant, one of the most important beauty contests on the planet.
1952 The Second Annual Miss World Competition was held in London. Sweden ‘s perfomance at MissWorld started out very well! This Scandinavian country won the award two yearsin succession.
1953 Manel Illangakoon,MissCeylon — Asia’s best hope in the UK — was third runner-up to Miss World Contest. In the early 1950s, Ceylon was one of three Asian nations to have compete in the beauty pageants on the planet. This Island became Sri Lanka on 22 May 1972 and has since competed under that name.
1954 Egypt’s Antigone Constanda became the first non-European representative to be crowned Miss World. America’s delegate Karin Hultman was first runner-up to Miss World, ahead of Efi Mela ( Grece ), Claudine Bleuse ( France ), Franke Waither ( Germany ) and Grete Hoffenbland ( Denmark ).
1955 Margaret Haywood, a “huge favorite”, became the second American woman to be named finalist in the British capital.
1956 The United States placed second for the third time in a row.
1957 Japan’s entrant qualified for the finalstwo years in succession.
1958 Five out of six finalists at Miss World were from Europe: Claudina Auger ( France ), Vinne Ingemann ( Denmark ), Gun Harriette Margareta Wagstrom ( Sweden ), Lucien Struve ( Holland ), and Eileen Sheridan ( UK ).
1959 Miss Rhodesia, Vivien Lendin, and Miss South Africa, Moya Meaker were semi-finalists. Rhodesia — Zimbabwe since 1980 — was not semi-finalist again until 1965.
1960 South Korea’s contestant Young-hee Lee made the top 15 for the first time. Korea’s qualification for the semi-finals was one of a number of surprises.
1961 Miss Spain Carmen Cervera was the first Spaniard to make the semi-finals. She also became the only Hispanic beauty queen to place among the finalists in 1961.
1962 Miss Japan, Teruko Ikeda, was fourth runner-up to Miss World Contest. Ikeda was one of the first Japanese delegates to be elected finalist.
1963 Liberia, a nation of ex-slaves, made the top 15 for the first time.
1964 The United Kingdom, the host country, was the winner for the second time. Apart from that, Helen Joseph became Montserrat’s first and only semi-finalist. Montserrat is a tiny Island on the Caribbean Sea.
1965 Eight out of fifteen semi-finalists at Miss World were from Europe :Lesley Langley ( UK /winner ), Gladys Waller ( Ireland ), Ingrid Kopetzky ( Austria ), Yvonn Ekman ( Denmark ), Faija Marja Salminen ( Finland ), Christine Sibellin ( France ), Karin Schutz ( Germany ), and Britt Marie Lindblad ( Sweden ).
1966 Miss Yugoslavia, Nikica Marinovic, was allowed to compete at Miss World, where she almost pulled off a major shock. Nikica was first runner-up! What could have happened if Yugoslavia — a Communist nation — had won this contest? During Cold War, Yugoslavia was one of only four Communist nations to compete in London, along with Czechoslovakia ( 1967, 1969, 1989 ), Bulgaria (1988), and Poland (1983-89 ).
1967 Peru’s Miss World Madeleine Hartog-Bell, once a fashion model in Paris, went on a peace mission to South Vietnam, alongside other names like Bob Hope ( actor ), Barbara McNair ( performer ) and Raquel Welch Tejada ( actress ).
1968 For the first time, Miss USA did not advance past the first round.
1969 Marcela Britanarova was allowed to leave Czechoslovakia, a Communist nation, for a trip to London, where competed for the Miss World title. In Britain, shequalified for the second round.
1970 Breaking with the tradition of the previous two decades, a black representative, exactly Jennifer Hosten ( Grenada’s contestant ), won the global trophy. The victory set off a frenzy of celebrations on Grenada, one of the world’s ten smallest nations.
1971 Guyana, Britain’s last colony on the South American mainland, made the top 15 for six years in succession.
1972 Mexico’s representative Gloria Gutierrez became the only Latin American beauty queen to place among the semi-finalists.
1973 Two out of five finalists at Miss World were from Asia: Miss Philippines, Evangeline Pascual ( 1st runner-up ) and Miss Israel ( 3rd runner-up ). Apart from that, Sylvia Ohannesian was the first Lebanese woman to be a semi-finalist at Miss World.
1974 America’s entrant Terry Ann Browning finished fifth.
1975 Yugoslavia, the only “Communist competitor” in London, qualified for the second round and then placed seventh.
1976 Jamaica’s entrant Cindy Breakspeare won the British award. For political reasons, many countries boycotted the 1976 Miss World. The explanation given by these countries, among them Yugoslavia and India, was that they objected to South Africa’s participation in England.
1977 Once again, politics played a major role in this international contest. Surprisingly, Jamaica did not defend its Miss World title. Why? It boycotted this event to protest the inclusion of South Africa.The country’s Head of Government Michael Manley, an admirer of Cuba’s dictator Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, refused to allow Jamaica to compete in Britain.The Island was joined by India, Indonesia, Liberia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Philippines, Singapore, Swaziland, and Yugoslavia.
1978 Was Argentina the heavy-favorite for the Miss World title? No, it wasn’t. But, Silvana Suarez, Argentina’s representative, won the crown. Apart from that, South Africa was banned from competition because of its government’s racist policies. However, Jamaica returned to London after participating in the African-led boycott of the Miss World Pageant.
1979 Seven out of fifteen semi-finalists at Miss World were from Latin America / Caribbean:Gina Swaisson ( Bermuda ), Debbie Campbell ( Jamaica ), Lea Silva Dall Acqua ( Brazil ), Roselina Rosas ( Mexico ), Lorlei de la Ossa ( Panama ), Marlene Coggins ( Trinidad & Tobago ) and Laura Rodriguez ( Uruguay ).
1980 Was Israel the big favorite for the Miss World trophy? Yes, it was. But, Miss Israel, Anat Zimmerman, did not win the award. Apart from that, Bermuda, which won the global pageant in the previous year, made the top 15 in the British capital.
1981 Venezuela’s Miss World, Pilin Leon, the tallest delegate at MW ’81 , visited Caracas, where she ,a former volleyball player, was given heroine’s welcome.
1982 Miss Trinidad & Tobago, Aretha Ingrind Rocke, was labeled as the”Cleopatra of the Caribbean” by the press for public comments about her exotic face. She — the country’s most beautiful women since Janelle Penny Commissiong — was a “huge favorite” to win the international award in 1982.
1983 Welcome to England.Miss Malaysia Michelle Yeoh –today one of Asia’s most famous actresses — did not even make the semi-finals, but she saw this global contest as a great learning experience.
1984 Perhaps the most notable “Miss World anecdote” for Bolivia wasprovided by Erika Wyesse, a spectacular blonde. Bolivia’s beauty queen Erika Wyesse was criticized by animal rights activists, when a photo of her wearing an “ocelot coat” was published in London. Unfortunately, the ocelot is an endangered animal on Earth, including Bolivia.
1985 The United States won the Miss Americas title for the first time other than Venezuela, Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Miss USA World, Brenda Denton, defeated Jamaica’s Alison Jane Barnett, the heavy press favorite in the British capital. In addition to her continental prize, Denton was second runner-up in Miss World.
1986 Five out of seventy-seven entries at Miss World were from Oceania: Australia, Guam, New Zealand, Tonga, and Western Samoa.
1987 For the first time in several years, Miss United Kingdom, host country, failed to make into the semi-finals. However, Hong Kong became the only British colony in the second round of the Miss World Competition. In addition to making the top 12, Miss Hong Kong, Pauline Yeung, now a famous actress in Asian film industry, became “Miss Asia”.
1988 California’s Diana Magaña, 1st runner-up to Miss USA 1988, made the top ten.
1989 Moscow,USSR. Iceland’s Linda Petursdottir was the first Miss World to visit USSR /Soviet Union ( present-day Russia ).
1990 The Miss World title went toGina Marie Tolleson ( America ). Tolleson, who placed as first runner-up in Miss USA 1990, became the second U.S. delegate to win that title since the British event first began in the 1950s.
1991 France made the top ten for the first time since 1980, when Patricia Barzyk was second runner-up.
1992 For the first time in its history,Russia, a Marxist country 14 months ago, captured the Briton award. Meanwhile, Miss America, Sharon Belden, was called among the semi-finalists.
1993 The Miss World Pageant went toJamaica — which is slightly larger than the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since it became a sovereign country, a former British dependency, in 1962, the Caribbean Island has won three Miss World titles.
1994 The new star of India, Aishwarya Rai, was crowned Miss World and years later she became a famous actress. Aishwarya Rai has appeared on screen with some of the biggest names in Hollywood and Bollywood, including Nandita Das, Martin Henderson, and Ben Kingsley.Some pageant experts believe that she is “one of the most beautiful girls of the world”.
1995 With gubernamental help, among them Nelson Mandela, and the enthusiastic support of the South African people, Sun City hosted the pageant. For the first time in several years, the States was eliminated in the preliminaries.
1996 Bangalore, India. Nine countries and one dependency qualified for the award: Greece ( winner ), Colombia ( 1st runner-up ), Brazil ( 2nd runner-up ), Venezuela ( finalist ), India ( finalist ), Dominican Republic, Aruba, Mexico, South Africa, and Belgium. Surprisingly, the States did not advance past the first round.
1997 Miss World was held in Seychelles ( Africa ). It was indeed an opportunity for the entries to visit one of the world’s most stunning and beautiful beaches. The elimination of Latin America, from Argentina to Venezuela and the American Virgin Islands, from the second round shocked many pageant experts.
1998 Miss Israel, Linor Abargil, captured the international award — she won the country’s only Miss World title that decade and century. In addition to this title, Israel has had several semi-finalists and finalists: 1956 ( 2nd runner-up ), 1957 ( semi-finalist ), 1959 ( 2nd runner-up ), 1960 ( 1st runner-up ), 1962, 1967 ( 3rd runner-up ), 1968 ( 2nd runner-up / favorite ), 1969, 1970 ( 2nd runner-up ), 1972 ( 2nd runner-up ), 1973 ( 3rd runner-up ), 1974 ( fourth runner-up ), 1976, 1980 ( 2nd runner up / favorite ), 1983, 1984, 1985, 1992, and 1995 ( 3rd runner-up ).
1999The 49th Annual Miss World Contest was held in London ( finals ) and the Maldives Islands ( swimsuit photo shoot ). Miss India was the winner; it has had two titleholders from 1965 to 1994.
2000 There were several surprises: Kazajstan’s representative Margarita Kravtsova and Uruguay’s entrant Katja Tomsen had qualified for the second round. Tomsen, who speaks English, Spanish and Italian, was also crowned Miss Americas.
2001 The Indian dynasty in Miss World, with three global awards from 1997 to 2000, ended this year after it failed to qualify for the second round.The People’s Republic of China was represented for the first time at a Miss World Contest; China’s delegate finished fifth.Astonishingly, Carrie Ann Stroup did not even make the semis in South Africa. According to Ladbrokes, Stroup, Miss America, was a “huge favorite” to win the international crown, ahead of Christianne Balmelli ( Chile ), Sara Corner ( India ), and Andreina Prieto ( Venezuela ). The USA had won the award twice, in 1973 and 1990.
2002 Turkey’s beauty queen was elected Miss World. She brought home her country’s first ever Miss World. For the first time, there were 20 semi-finalists: Nigeria, Holland, Colombia ( 1st runner-up ), Puerto Rico, China, Yugoslavia, Russia, Peru ( 2nd runner-up ), Norway, Vietnam, India, Curacao, Aruba, Australia, Philippines, Bosnia Herzegovina, Italy, Venezuela and the United States.
2003 Miss World, Rosanna Davison was hand-picked by a top-class international jury, including Candace Bushnell ( author ), Jackie Chan ( actor ), Pradeep Guha ( journalist ), and Gustavo Gianetti ( model ). Davidson was a big favorite after the preliminaries. Prior to Ireland ‘s victory, it did not advance past the second round since 1990.
2004 Miss USA, Nancy Randall, made the top Three. In China, Randall became the second black American to be named semi-finalist in Miss World. She hails from Brazil.
2005 Iceland – the most sparsely populated country on the continent of Europe – won its third global title. Curiously it has more MW awards than any country aside from India ( 5 ), Venezuela ( 5 ) and the United Kingdom ( 4 ). “Miss World went to Unnur Birna Vilhjalmsdottir ” was the headline in newspapers in Iceland, an Island in the North Atlantic near the Arctic Circle.
2006 Was Miss Venezuela, Federica Guzman Diamante, the heavy favorite for the Miss World trophy? Yes, she was. But, unfortunately, Venezuela did not win the international pageant. Guzman Diamante — a television hostess – failed to make into the finals. Despite its historical success in countless contests, Venezuela has not won a MW award since 1995.
2007 In fairness to thePeople’s Republic of China, the birthplace of the beauty contests on Earth, Zhang Zi-lin , a native of Beijing, became Miss World 2007. Miss China was also the second beauty queen from a Communist nation — after Poland in 1989 — to win the European prize. Zhang, an ex hurdler, was the number one favorite for the crown, alongside other names like Ada Aimee de la Cruz, Miss Dominican Republic, and Jugita Jurkute, Miss Lithuania.For the fourth time, the event was held in a Marxist country. China — with one of the most fervent beauty contests followers in Asia — became the 33rd country to win the global award.
2008 Johannesburg ( South Africa ). The new star of Russia, Kseniya Vladimirovna Sukhinova, was chosen Miss World. Miss Russia beat 109 other entries in the pageant. She, the heavy press favorite, became the first Russian woman to win Miss World since Yulia Kurochkina in 1992.
