To celebrate the 40th anniversary of ICTP, Highlights periodically includes a description of a seminal event in the Centre's history:
22 September 1960 - Abdus Salam, a member of the Pakistani delegation to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), calls for creation of an international centre for theoretical physics at IAEA's Fourth General Conference in Vienna, Austria.
26 September 1962 - Member states attending IAEA's Sixth General Conference formally endorse the creation of an international centre for theoretical physics. The Centre would open its doors in Trieste two years later.