Rotary Centennial Facts

Centennial Celebration - A brief timeline of Rotary history

In the summer of 1910, Winnipeg businessman P.A.C. "Pac" McIntyre stopped in Chicago on his way home from a convention in Detroit. read the full article

1910	The first Canadian citizens joined Rotary! This was also the year of Rotary's first convention, held in Chicago.
1911	Rotary published The National Rotarian (later titled The Rotarian), it's signature magazine.
1912	Official Rotary clubs appeared in Canada and Europe; the first Canadian club was in Winnipeg.
1916	The Rotary club of Havana, Cuba was the first Rotary club in a country without English as an official language.
1917	First Canadian holds the position of International Rotary President: Rev E. Leslie Pidgeon
1918	Rotary clubs were established in Paris, and also in Montevideo, Uruguay. The Montevideo club was the first Rotary organization south of the equator.
1919	The first Asian Rotary club was established in Manila, Philippines. Soon after, a club was established in Shanghai, China.
1921	The 1000th rotary club was established. Australian and African clubs were admitted.
1924	Rotary's present emblem was instated. A meeting devoted to "International Friendship and Goodwill" was held with 11 U.S. and seven Canadian Clubs meeting. This became an annual event.
1928	Canadian Rotarian James W. Davidson established clubs in Asia and the Middle East. Over three years, he chartered 23 clubs in 12 different countries, from Turkey to Thailand.
1940	Rotary Established the Rotary Relief Fund to help victims of WWII.
1943	Rotary International adopted The Four-Way Test as written by Herbert J. Taylor. Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
1945	Rotary began a partnership with the United Nations through their involvement with the drafting of the United Nations Charter.
1950	Rotarians adopted two official mottoes; Service Above Self and He Profits Most Who Serves Best.
1962	The Interact program was welcomed to Rotary, targeting young men of high-school age.
1972	Rotary Youth Exchange became an official Rotary program where young rotary members could share their cultures and ideas.
1979	The first Health, Hunger and Humanity Grant was funded; the project focused on immunizing six million Philippine children against polio.
1985	Rotary's PolioPlus operation was launched to continue the Rotarian effort to eradicate polio.
1987	Women began to fight for the right to join Rotary. The efforts continued until 1989, when a vote was taken and the requirement that the club membership be limited to males was eliminated.
1995	The first women to be district governors of Rotary began their terms of service. Rotarians and other volunteers immunize 165 million children in China and India in a single week.
2000	A record 550 million children - almost one-tenth of the world's population - receive the oral polio vaccine (OPV). The Western Pacific region, spanning from Australia to China, is declared polio-free.
2002	Europe was declared polio-free thanks in part to Rotary's efforts.
2003	A Rotary club was established in Kabul, Afghanistan.
2006	Only four countries in the world still experienced cases of polio; Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan. Polio cases are the lowest in human history!
2009	Rotary's overall contribution to the Polio eradication effort totals nearly US$800 million. In January, Rotary and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledge a combined US$555 million - which includes Rotary's $200 Million Challenge - all of it in support of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
TODAY:	Rotary Canada celebrates its 100th year! There are more than 1.2 million rotary members worldwide. There are over 32,000 rotary clubs. Rotarians exist in over 200 countries.

Internationally, Rotarians continue to strive to eradicate polio and we are closing in on our goal! Rotarians offer on-going support to the Group Study Exchange, Rotary Friendship Exchange, and many other projects directed toward creating a global community. Additionally, in nearly every recent disaster recovery effort there has been Rotary participation. Canadian Rotarians are involved with charitable organizations dealing with nearly every current issue in our country: from scholarships in Vancouver to sending disadvantaged Ontarian children to summer camp. The best way to celebrate Canadian Rotary's one hundred years of humanitarian efforts is to look forward to the next hundred!

What is Rotary?
Rotary is a member based organization of business professionals who are passionate about bettering the world both at a global and local community level. Rotary is non-political, non-religious and has more than 1.2 million members.

Who are Rotarians?
Rotary Members are volunteer humanitarians who work locally, regionally, and internationally to combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, provide education and job training, provide disaster relief, promote peace, and eradicate polio under the motto "Service Above Self."

What do Rotarians Do?
Rotarians usually meet once a week over a meal. Meetings often involve a presentation and a productive discussion on how to help the community locally or internationally. Presentation topics can be on anything of general interest such as local history, education, dentistry, farming or topics concerned with Rotary projects such as providing safe water and sanitation, or improving the education of those in developing countries.