Miss Universe pageant commenced in 1952, and the first ever beauty to be crowned Miss Universe was Armi Kuusela from Finland. Since then sixty-eight editions of the pageant have taken place, the recent being Miss Universe 2019 and the reigning queen is South African beauty Zozibini Tunzi.
Let's look at some interesting facts about Miss Universe pageant and its winners –
a) First time winners from each continent are - Armi Kuusela (Finland, Europe) Miss Universe 1952, Miriam Stevenson (Unites States, North America) Miss Universe 1954, Gladys Zender (Peru, South America) Miss Universe 1957, Akiko Kojima (Japan, Asia) Miss Universe 1959, Kerry Anne Wells (Australia, Oceania) Miss Universe 1972, and Margaret Gardiner (South Africa, Africa) Miss Universe 1978.
b) Armi Kuusela from Finland, the first-ever Miss Universe in 1952, gave up her title, though not officially, to get married, shortly before her year was completed.
c) USA has so far won the maximum number of Miss Universe titles (8), followed by Venezuela (7), Puerto Rico (5) and the Philippines (4).
d) Continent-wise, beauties from Africa have won Miss Universe title 6 times, Asia has won 12 titles, Europe has won 12 titles (excluding dethronement), North America has won 21 titles (including replacement of dethroned winner), Oceania has won 3 titles, and South America has won 14 titles. North American beauties (including Central American countries) lead the tally of Miss Universe wins.
e) Miss Universe 2002, Oxana Fedorova of Russia, became the first ever (and till date only) titleholder to be dethroned. She was stripped of her title due to 'failing to function' in her responsibilities as Miss Universe. Her responsibilities were assumed by the first runner-up Justine Pasek of Panama after her official dethronement on 23rd September 2002, four months after being crowned. Rumours were that she was secretly married and was pregnant, and was dethroned because of that.
f) Leila Lopes of Angola enjoyed the longest reign period of 464 days (12th September 2011 – 18th December 2012).
g) Excluding the year of dethronement, the shortest completed reign as Miss Universe is that of Iris Mittenaere of France for 300 days (30th January 2017 to 25th November 2017).
h) Seven times so far the winners have been crowned when the pageant was held in their home countries. These winners are - Miriam Stevenson Miss Universe 1954 (USA), Carol Morris Miss Universe 1956 (USA), Linda Bement Miss Universe 1960 (USA), Sylvia Hitchcock – Miss Universe 1967 (USA), Brook Lee – Miss Universe 1997 (USA), Olivia Culpo Miss Universe 2012 (USA) and Denise Quiñones Miss Universe 2001 (Puerto Rico).
i) The oldest winner in the pageant’s history is USA’s Brooke Lee who won Miss Universe 1997 when she was 26 years and 128 days old.
j) The youngest Miss Universe winners have been France's Christiane Martel Miss Universe 1953 (17 years and 181 days old), Peru's Gladys Zender Miss Universe 1957 (17 years and 274 days old) and Finland’s Armi Kuusela Miss Universe 1952 (17 years and 312 days old). All of them were crowned before they turned 18, and all other winners of Miss Universe are above 18.
k) Venezuela’s Dayana Mendoza and Stefanía Fernández are the only winners to win Miss Universe titles for their country consecutively in the year 2008 and 2009.
l) Miss Universe had the maximum number of delegates in 2018 (94), while the least number of delegates to participate in Miss Universe was witnessed in 1953 (26).
Now, let's look at the past winners/ titleholders of Miss Universe till date –
Miss Universe winners from 1952 – 1960
Armi Kuusela of Finland Miss Universe 1952
Christiane Martel of France Miss Universe 1953
Miriam Stevenson of United States of America Miss Universe 1954
Hillevi Rombin of Sweden Miss Universe 1955
Carol Morris of United States of America Miss Universe 1956
Gladys Zender of Peru Miss Universe 1957
Luz Marina Zuluaga of Colombia Miss Universe 1958
Akiko Kojima of Japan Miss Universe 1959
Linda Bement of United States of America Miss Universe 1960
Miss Universe winners from 1961 – 1970
Marlene Schmidt of Germany Miss Universe 1961
Norma Nolan of Argentina Miss Universe 1962
Iêda Maria Vargas of Brazil Miss Universe 1963
Corinna Tsopei of Greece Miss Universe 1964
Apasra Hongsakula of Thailand Miss Universe 1965
Margareta Arvidsson of Sweden Miss Universe 1966
Sylvia Hitchcock of United States of America Miss Universe 1967
Martha Vasconcellos of Brazil Miss Universe 1968
Gloria Diaz of Philippines Miss Universe 1969
Marisol Malaret of Puerto Rico Miss Universe 1970
Miss Universe winners from 1971 – 1980
Georgina Rizk of Lebanon Miss Universe 1971
Kerry Anne Wells of Australia Miss Universe 1972
Margarita Moran of Philippines Miss Universe 1973
Amparo Muñoz of Spain Miss Universe 1974
Anne Marie Pohtamo of Finland Miss Universe 1975
Rina Messinger of Israel Miss Universe 1976
Janelle Commissiong of Trinidad and Tobago Miss Universe 1977
Margaret Gardiner of South Africa Miss Universe 1978
Maritza Sayalero of Venezuela Miss Universe 1979
Shawn Weatherly of United States of America Miss Universe 1980
Miss Universe winners from 1981 – 1990
Irene Sáez of Venezuela Miss Universe 1981
Karen Dianne Baldwin of Canada Miss Universe 1982
Lorraine Downes of New Zealand Miss Universe 1983
Yvonne Ryding of Sweden Miss Universe 1984
Deborah Carthy-Deu of Puerto Rico Miss Universe 1985
Bárbara Palacios of Venezuela Miss Universe 1986
Cecilia Bolocco of Chile Miss Universe 1987
Porntip Nakhirunkanok of Thailand Miss Universe 1988
Angela Visser of Netherlands Miss Universe 1989
Mona Grudt of Norway Miss Universe 1990
Miss Universe winners from 1991 – 2000
Lupita Jones of Mexico Miss Universe 1991
Michelle McLean of Namibia Miss Universe 1992
Dayanara Torres of Puerto Rico Miss Universe 1993
Sushmita Sen of India Miss Universe 1994
Chelsi Smith of United States of America Miss Universe 1995
Alicia Machado of Venezuela Miss Universe 1996
Brook Lee of United States of America Miss Universe 1997
Wendy Fitzwilliam of Trinidad and Tobago Miss Universe 1998
Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana Miss Universe 1999
Lara Dutta of India Miss Universe 2000
Miss Universe winners from 2001 – 2010
Denise Quiñones of Puerto Rico Miss Universe 2001
Justine Pasek of Panama Miss Universe 2002
Amelia Vega of Dominican Republic Miss Universe 2003
Jennifer Hawkins of Australia Miss Universe 2004
Natalie Glebova of Canada Miss Universe 2005
Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico Miss Universe 2006
Riyo Mori of Japan Miss Universe 2007
Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela Miss Universe 2008
Stefanía Fernández of Venezuela Miss Universe 2009
Ximena Navarrete of Mexico Miss Universe 2010
Miss Universe winners from 2011 to 2020
Leila Lopes of Angola Miss Universe 2011
Olivia Culpo of United States of America Miss Universe 2012
Gabriela Isler of Venezuela Miss Universe 2013
Paulina Vega of Colombia Miss Universe 2014
Pia Wurtzbach of Philippines Miss Universe 2015
Iris Mittenaere of France Miss Universe 2016
Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters of South Africa Miss Universe 2017
Catriona Gray of Philippines Miss Universe 2018
Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa Miss Universe 2019
Andrea Meza of Mexico Miss Universe 2020
Miss Universe winners from 2021 to date
Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu pf India Miss Universe 2021
R’Bonney Nola of USA Miss Universe 2022
Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua Miss Universe 2023
So, who is your favourite Miss Universe?