1905

First Rotary club organized in Chicago, Illinois, USA

1908

Second club formed in San Francisco, California, USA

1910

First Rotary convention held in Chicago

1912

The Rotary Club of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, becomes the first club outside the United States to be officially chartered. (The club was formed in 1910.)

1917

Endowment fund, forerunner of The Rotary Foundation, established

1921

Rotary Club of Melbourne established (The first Rotary club to be established in Australia)

1932

4-Way Test formulated by Chicago Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor

1945

Forty-nine Rotarians help draft United Nations Charter in San Francisco

1947

Rotary founder Paul Harris dies; first 18 Rotary Foundation scholarships granted

1962

First Interact club formed in Melbourne, Florida, USA

1965

Rotary Foundation launches Matching Grants and Group Study Exchange programs

1978

RI's largest convention, with 39,834 registrants, held in Tokyo

1985

Rotary announces PolioPlus program to immunize all the children of the world against polio

1989

Council on Legislation opens Rotary membership to women worldwide; Rotary clubs chartered in Budapest, Hungary, and Warsaw, Poland, for first time in almost 50 years

1990

Rotary Club of Moscow chartered first club in Soviet Union

1990-91

Preserve Planet Earth program inspires some 2,000 Rotary-sponsored environmental projects

1994

Western Hemisphere declared polio-free

1999

Rotary Centers for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution established

2000

Western Pacific declared polio-free

2001

30,000th Rotary club chartered

2002

Europe declared polio-free; first class of 70 Rotary Peace Scholars begin study

2003

Rotarians raise more than US$118 million to support the final stages of polio eradication