About Rotary

Rotary is an organisation of business and professional leaders united worldwide, who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.
There are approximately 1.2 million Rotarians, members of more than 33,000 Rotary clubs worldwide.

An 8-page leaflet about Rotary explaining our aims and programmes is available.

TimeLine

Rotary International Timeline
1905 Chicago attorney Paul Harris organizes first Rotary meeting on 23 February, leading to formation of the Rotary Club of Chicago.
1906 Rotary Club of Chicago provides a public toilet outside City Hall, Rotary’s first community service project.
1908 Second club formed in San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
1910-11 Paul Harris elected first president of National Association of Rotary Clubs at the first convention.
1911-13 Clubs formed in Canada, Great Britain, and Ireland; organization name changes to International Association of Rotary Clubs.
1915-16 Club chartered in Cuba, the first non-English-speaking Rotary country.
1916-17 President Arch Klumph proposes establishing an endowment fund, precursor of The Rotary Foundation
1933 4-Way Test formulated by Chicago Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor
1942-43 Rotary conference in London on education and cultural exchange sets stage for UNESCO.
1945-46 Forty-nine Rotarians help draft the UN Charter.
1946-47 Founder Paul Harris dies in Chicago; outpouring of funds from Rotarians used to establish fellowship program.
1948-49 First 18 Rotary Fellows study abroad, a precursor of Ambassadorial Scholars.
1962-63 First Interact club formed in Melbourne, Florida U.S.A.
1965-66 Rotary Foundation launches Matching Grants and Group Study Exchange programs
1977-78 Tokyo convention, R.I.'s largest ever - 39,834 registrants
1978-79 Health, Hunger and Humanity (3-H) Grants begin.
1979-80 Foundation grant to immunize six million Philippine children against polio sets stage for PolioPlus.
1984-85 Rotary launches PolioPlus program and campaigns to raise US$120 million to immunize all the children of the world.
1987-88 Through the PolioPlus campaign, Rotarians raise US$247 million. First women join Rotary
1988-89 Rotary returns to Hungary and Poland.
1990 Rotary Club of Moscow charted first ever club in then Soviet Union
1990-91 Preserve Planet Earth programme inspires some 2,000 Rotary-sponsored environmental projects
1994-95 Western Hemisphere declared polio-free.
1998-99 Rotary Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution established.
2000-01 Western Pacific region declared polio-free.
2001-02 30,000th Rotary club chartered
2001-02 Europe declared polio-free
2002-03 Rotary launches a second polio eradication fund raising campaign to help fill a critical funding need.
2003-04 The 12-month fundraising campaign—Fulfilling Our Promise: Eradicate Polio— concluded, raising more than US$130 million by August 2004
2004-05 Clubs celebrate Rotary’s centennial by launching hundreds of community projects and contributing thousands of volunteer hours.
2006-07 The Rotary Foundation recognises the millionth Paul Harris Fellow.
2007-08 Rotary receives a US$100 million grant from the Gates Foundation to help eradicate Polio.
2008-09 Rotary receives a US$255 million grant for polio eradication from the Gates Foundation.
2010 Rotary Foundation launches
three-year pilot of Future Vision Plan.