Landmarks and Turning points in Rotary's First Century
(1905 - 2005)
| 1905 Rotary Founded in Chicago, Illinois, USA by Paul P. Harris. |
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| 1907 First service project - a public comfort station in Chicago |
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1908 |
| 1910 National Association of Rotary Clubs formed at the first Rotary Convention. |
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| 1911 The National Rotarian launched (predecessor to THE ROTARIAN) |
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1912 |
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1916 |
| 1917 Rotary Endowment Fund announced, predecessor to The Rotary Foundation of RI. |
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| 1918 First Rotary Club organized in South America (Montevideo, Uruguay). |
| 1919 First Rotary Club established in Asia (Manila, Philippines). |
| 1920 Rotary reaches continental Europe (Madrid, Spain). |
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| 1921 First Rotary clubs in Australia (Melbourne) and Africa (Johannesburg, South Africa). |
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| 1922 Convention approved Rotary International - Association for Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI) as its own territorial unit. (In 1927, new territorial units were disallowed; RIBI remains the only territorial unit in Rotary.) |
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| 1923 St. Louis convention rejects single-program focus (crippled children). Resolution 34 adopted, establishing Rotary policy toward club autonomy regarding service projects. |
| 1927 Youth Exchange initiated in Copenhagen, Denmark and Nice, France. |
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| 1928 James W. Davidson begins three-year mission to organize clubs in Asia and the Middle East. |
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| 1932 Chicago Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor formulates The Four-Way Test. |
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| 1940 At Havana, Cuba, convention, RI adopts resolution "Rotary Amid World Conflict" to promote world order and peace. |
| 1943-46 Rotarians in London, England, meet preliminary to UNESCO. Rotarians participate in preparing and chartering the United Nations. Rotary International fosters worldwide support for UN. |
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| 1947 Death of Paul Harris. First program of The Rotary Foundation established, called the Fellowships for Advanced Study (today known as Ambassadorial Scholarships). |
| 1957 Paul Harris Fellow Recognition proposed to fund Foundation programs. |
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| 1962 First Interact club formed in Melbourne, Florida, USA. |
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| 1963 Matched District and Club Program provides impetus for World Community Service, Matching Grants, Group Study Exchange, Carl P. Miller Discovery Grants, and World Fellowships (now Rotary Fellowships). |
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| 1968 First Rotaract club chartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. |
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| 1970 Council on Legislation becomes Rotary's "parliament." |
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| 1971 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) officially adopted, based on 1959 model in Queensland, Australia. |
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| 1978 Health, Hunger and Humanity (3H) Grants program developed. |
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| 1980 The Trustees of The Rotary Foundation establish the Endowment for World Understanding and Peace (renamed The Rotary Foundation Permanent Fund in 1994). |
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| 1983-88 3-H project leads to PolioPlus. Rotarians worldwide raise $219 million for polio eradication. (By 2005, Rotary's contributions exceeded $500 million.) Partnership created with WHO, UNICEF, and CDC. |
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| 1985 Rotary membership reaches one million. |
| 1986 Rotary Community Corps is initiated (originally called Rotary Village Corps and Rotary Community Service Corps). |
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| 1987 Women admitted to Rotary membership in United States by action of RI Board of Directors. |
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| 1989 Council on Legislation opens Rotary membership to women worldwide. |
| 1990 Rotary enters Russia and other countries in former Soviet Union. |
| 1993 International PolioPlus Committee created to manage Rotary's continuing polio eradication efforts. |
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| 2002 The first Rotary World Peace Scholarships awarded for study at the Rrotary Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution. |
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| 2005 Rotary celebrates 100th anniversary. |
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