Cricket World Cup in retrospect

The ICC Cricket World Cup is the flagship event of the international cricket calendar and takes place every four years, with matches contested in a 50-over format.
The 2015 edition will be the 11th of the tournament and will be jointly hosted by New Zealand and Australia. The two countries combined in 1992 to jointly host the tournament.
The first attempt at any kind of world championship was in 1912, when a three-way series was arranged between the then current Test playing nations, Australia, England and South Africa. Dogged by poor weather, the experiment was dropped and not repeated until 1975, when, following the success of domestic one-day competitions, the six Test-playing nations (England, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, India and Pakistan) were joined by Sri Lanka and East Africa in the first World Cup in England.
A resounding success, the tournament was repeated in 1979 and 1983 in England, before moving abroad, maintaining a four-year cycle. The 2007 World Cup, held in the Caribbean for the first time, was criticised by many for its lengthy format and poor management. The 2011 World Cup returned to the subcontinent after 15 years and the tournament was a success, buoyed by the performances of the host nations and smaller teams like Ireland. The 2015 edition will be played in Australia and New Zealand.
1975, England
The first World Cup, A. K. A. the Prudential Cup Trophy, had matches of 60 overs per innings, with each over comprising of 6 balls. The tournament comprised of daytime matches, played in the traditional form, and was won by West Indies (who defeated Australia in the finals). The Second World Cup saw the introduction of ICC Trophy, held for the purpose of selecting non-Test playing teams for the World Cup. In the first ICC Trophy, Sri Lanka and Canada emerged as the winners.
1979, England
In a meeting following the Second ODI World Cup, the International Cricket Conference decided to make the competition a quadrennial event i.e. an event that would be held only once in four years.
Peace was brokered with Australian entrepreneur Kerry Packer, whose rebel World Series had split world cricket, shortly before the second World Cup.
1983, England
The next tournament was held in 1983, hosted by England and won by the Indian team (after defeating the previous champions - West Indies - in the final match). It was in this World Cup only that the fielding circle was introduced, 30 yards (27 m) away from the stumps, in which four fieldsmen had to be present at all times.
1987, India and Pakistan
The fourth ICC Cricket World Cup was held in 1987, with India and Pakistan playing the hosts. The tournament saw two new occurrences. First, it was the first time that the matches were played outside England and second, the overs were reduced from 60 to 50 per innings. The Australian team won this time, defeating England by 7 runs in the final (this is, till now, the closest margin in World Cup final history).
1992, Australia and New Zealand
Australia and New Zealand hosted the fifth World Cup, in which Pakistan emerged as the winner, after defeating England. This tournament also saw the introduction of colored clothing, white balls and day/night matches, along with a change in the fielding restrictions.
1996, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
The Indian subcontinent once again became the host of World Cup in 1996, when the matches were played in India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The final match was played in Lahore and saw Sri Lanka emerging as the winner, defeating Australia by seven wickets.
1999, England & Wales, Ireland and Scotland
The next tournament was organised, once again, in England, with some matches also being held in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Netherlands. The final match, played between Australia and Pakistan, saw the former claiming its second win.  
2003, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya
The eighth World Cup saw the number of participating teams increase to fourteen, from twelve; Kenya's victories over Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe; and forfeiture by New Zealand (because of security reasons). The feat was repeated by Australia in the World Cup, held in 2003, when it beat India by 125 runs.
2007, West Indies
The ninth ODI World Cup was hosted by the West Indies. With this, it became the first such tournament to be hosted on all six populated continents. The competition saw a number of firsts. It was the first time Bangladesh progressed to the 2nd round and it was the first time Ireland played in the World Cup (and even went ahead to the main ODI table). The tournament was won by Australia, registering its fourth win (defeating Sri Lanka in the final match).
2011, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
The 10th ICC Cricket World Cup was hosted by India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. 2011 WC was won by India who defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets. India became the first nation to win a world cup final on home soil.    — Internet