In Switzerland, sixteen countries sign the first Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners and wounded

At the invitation of the Swiss, representatives of sixteen countries met in Geneva on August 8, 1864, to discuss the treatment of wounded and prisoners in modern warfare. Two weeks later the "Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field" was signed. Just ten articles long, it nevertheless laid out the beginnings of the humane treatment of casualties of warfare.  (By John Osborne)