Armi Kuusela from Finland was the first winner of the event. She was 17 at the time. She was awarded a box of chocolates, a gold bangle and a return ticket on Pan American Airways.
The contest was held on 28 June 1952 in Long Beach, California, USA.
Miss United Kingdom, Aileen P. Chase, who was a runner up in Miss World the previous year didn’t even make it into the semi finals.
Miss Hawaii, Miss Greece, Miss Hong Kong and Miss Germany were all runners up.