World Standards Day
Next: October 14, 2027
Here's to things that just work.
The story
Where it comes from
World Standards Day is held on 14 October, the date in 1946 when delegates from 25 countries met in London and decided to create a new international body to coordinate standards. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) came into existence the following year, on 23 February 1947. The first World Standards Day was held on 14 October 1970. It is now organised jointly by ISO, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), as a tribute to the thousands of experts who write the voluntary agreements behind everyday things.
How it's celebrated
The three organisations share a theme each year, and national standards bodies mark the day with events and gatherings that thank the people who sit on technical committees. For everyone else it is a day to notice the quiet agreements that let a QR code scan on any phone and a country code mean the same thing everywhere.
Did you know
- ISO is not an acronym: its founders chose a short name inspired by the Greek isos, 'equal', so that it would be the same in every language.
- The QR code was invented in Japan in 1994 by Denso Wave, which chose not to exercise its patent so that anyone could use it, and it became an ISO international standard in 2000.
- Malaysia's two-letter code MY and Singapore's SG come from ISO 3166, the international standard for country codes.
Coming up next
- Global Handwashing Day · October 15, 2027
- World Food Day · October 16, 2027
- International Day of the Intangible Cultural Heritage · October 17, 2027
- World Menopause Day · October 18, 2027
- Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar's Birthday · October 19, 2027
- Vietnamese Women's Day · October 20, 2027