16 October 1945, Quebec, Canada - In the afternoon of 16 October 1945 the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) came into existence with the signature of its Constitution by more than 20 nations. By the end of this first Conference session, which was held in Quebec, 42 nations had formally joined the Organization and two years of hard work of the Interim Commission, formed by President Roosevelt's Hot Springs Conference of May 1943, had matured into the first of the post-war United Nations specialized agencies.