In which year was the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) created under the aegis of the United Nations?

Introduction / Context:
The International Atomic Energy Agency, usually known by its initials IAEA, is the main global body that promotes peaceful uses of nuclear energy and monitors nuclear safety and safeguards. Many general knowledge and international organisation questions require you to know when and under what framework the IAEA was created. This question asks for the specific year in which the IAEA came into existence under United Nations auspices.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The question mentions that the IAEA was created under the aegis of the UN.
• Five possible years are listed: 1945, 1946, 1955, 1957 and 1962.
• We assume that you know roughly that the IAEA was formed after the Second World War, during the early nuclear age.
• Only one of these years matches the actual coming into force of the IAEA statute.

Concept / Approach:
The IAEA was proposed in the 1950s as a way to control the risks of nuclear weapons while allowing peaceful nuclear technology to spread. The United States President at that time spoke about Atoms for Peace, which led to negotiations on an international agency. The Statute of the IAEA was approved in the mid 1950s and came into force later in that decade. The best approach is to eliminate years that are clearly too early or too late and then recall the exact historical date from standard reference facts.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Exclude 1945 and 1946 because these years directly follow the end of the Second World War and the creation of the UN. At that stage the UN itself was just being established and nuclear control structures were still being debated. Step 2: Consider 1962. By this time, nuclear weapons were already central to global politics and the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in that year. The IAEA already existed by then, so 1962 is too late. Step 3: Recall that the IAEA Statute was negotiated in the early 1950s, approved in 1956 and that the Agency formally came into existence in 1957 when the Statute entered into force. Step 4: Among the options, 1957 is therefore the correct year, matching the formal creation of the IAEA under UN auspices.

Verification / Alternative check:
A quick verification technique is to associate the IAEA with the beginning of the Atoms for Peace era and remember that many key nuclear institutions date from the mid to late 1950s, before the 1968 Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. Cross checking with timelines of UN specialised agencies confirms that the IAEA became operational in 1957. This aligns with reference books and reliable online encyclopedias on international organisations.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A, 1945, is wrong because in that year the United Nations itself was founded and there was no separate international nuclear agency yet.
Option B, 1946, is wrong because it is still too early; nuclear control proposals were under discussion but the IAEA had not been created.
Option C, 1955, is wrong because by 1955 negotiations were in progress, but the IAEA Statute had not yet entered into force.
Option E, 1962, is wrong because by that year the IAEA was already functioning and the focus had shifted to crises such as the confrontation over Cuba.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes confuse the year of approval of the IAEA Statute with the year when the Agency actually came into force. Others mix up the IAEA's founding with later milestones like the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty of 1968. To avoid such confusion, remember that 1957 marks the operational birth of the IAEA under UN sponsorship. Linking the year with other historical events of the 1950s can also help fix it in memory.

Final Answer:
The International Atomic Energy Agency was created under the aegis of the United Nations in 1957.