World Peace Bell (Newport, Kentucky)

The World Peace Bell is an international, commemorative bell that ceremonially opened the twenty-first century at 1 January 2000 (00:00:00 EST) with its first swing. It is a secular bell not associated with any single group, but all mankind collectively. As such, its founding was a collaborative, international civic operation (executed under the auspices of organizations in the United States and France).^[1][2]

Its widely-broadcast dedication took place on 31 December, 1999 in the bell's permanent home of Newport, Kentucky (Greater Cincinnati) in the hours preceding its inaugural swing. In keeping with its secular theme of world peace, the bell features an inscription invoking the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and engravings marking important events from the past thousand years.^[1]

It is a traditional, Western-style swing bell. The Peace Bell weighs 30,000 kg (66,000 lb) and boasts a width of 3.7 m (12 feet) wide. Until 2006, it was the largest, functional swinging bell ever successfully produced.

Though it is the largest bell dedicated to peace internationally, it is not a part of the Japanese peace bell program, which has installed over twenty Eastern-style temple bells across the globe.