The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951.[1][2] Since his death in 2000, Morley's wife, Julia Morley, co-chairs the pageant. Miss World is one of the largest beauty contests in terms of participation and one of the most publicized contests in the world.
| The current Miss World is Rolene Strauss of South Africa who was crowned on December 14, 2014 in London, United Kingdom. Traditionally Miss World lives in London during her reign. Miss World is part of the Big Four international beauty pageants. Miss World started as the Festival Bikini Contest, in honor of the recently introduced swimwear of the time, but was called "Miss World" by the media. It was originally planned as a one-off event. Upon learning about the upcoming Miss Universe pageant, Morley decided to make the pageant an annual event. Opposition to the wearing of bikinis led to their replacement with more modest swimwear after the first contest. The first Miss World Pageant event in 1951 was the first and the last event which crowned the winner in a bikini. In Miss World 2013 all participants will use one piece of swimsuit plus traditional sarong from the belly and below as a compromise with local culture. |
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In 1959, the BBC started broadcasting the competition. The pageant's popularity grew with the advent of television. During the 1960s and 1970s, Miss World would be among the most watched programmes of the year on British television. However, in 1970, the Miss World contest in London was disrupted by women's liberation protesters armed with flour bombs, stink bombs, and water pistols.
In the 1980s, the pageant repositioned itself with the slogan Beauty With a Purpose, with added tests of intelligence and personality.[13] However, in the 1980s, the competition became seen as old-fashioned and politically incorrect in its native Britain, and despite its global appeal, stopped showing on British television until Channel 5 aired it from 1998-2000, then it shifted between lesser-known satellite channels, and is now webcast only and little-known in Britain.
source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_World
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