Rotary International Timeline

1905   First Rotary Club
organized in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
1908   Second club formed in San Francisco
California, U.S.A.
1910   First Rotary convention
held in Chicago
1912   First club outside U.S.
formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
1917   Endowment fund,
forerunner of The Rotary Foundation, established
1933   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 U.S.A.
1965   Rotary Foundation launches Matching Grants
and Group Study Exchange programs
1978   Tokyo convention, R.I.'s largest ever
— 39,834 registrants
1985   Rotary announces PolioPlus program to immunize
all the children of the world against polio
1989   Council on Legislation
opens Rotary to women
1990   Rotary Club of Moscow charted
first ever club in then Soviet Union
1990-1991   Preserve Planet Earth program
inspires some 2,000 Rotary-sponsored environmental projects
1994   Western Hemisphere
declared polio-free