Rotary Awareness Month

1 January 1920 Calcutta

1 January 1921 First Club of Europe (except Ireland and Great Britain) Madrid

1 January 1922 St. John's 

1 January 1991 Rotary Club of Belgrade, the First Club of Yugoslavia  &  Rotary Club of Bratislava, the First Club of Slovakia

1 January 1995 Rotary Club of Ulaanbaatar, the First Club of Mongolia

2 January 1924 Rotary Club of Douglas, Isle of Man

5 January 1968 British Virgin Islands – Tortola (history needed)

6 January 1958 Congo, Republic of the – Brazzaville (history needed)

11 January 1956 Iraq – Baghdad (history needed)

12 January 1921 Rotary Club of York #1000

13 January 1927 Rotary Club of Budapest, the First Club of Hungary

13 January 1999 Kyrgyzstan – Bishkek (history needed)

16 January 1928 Paraguay – Ascunsion (history needed)

16 January 1972 Botswana – Gaborone (history needed)

19 January 1962 Bahamas – Nassau

22 January 1962 Haiti – Port-au-Prince (history needed)

23 January 1926 Portugal – Lisbon www.missinghistory.org

23 January 1953 Vietnam – Saigon  (history needed)

25 January 1949 Tanzania – Dar-es-Salaam

25 January 1956 Swaziland – Manzini  (history needed)

25 January 1964 Liberia – Monrovia (history needed)

25 January 1968 Faroe Islands – Tórshavn  (history needed)

26 January 1927 Rotary Club of Helsinki-Helsingfors, First Rotary Club of Finland

26 January 1938 Syria – Damascus (history needed)

27 January 1947 After a many years of ill health, Rotary founder Paul Harris dies

29 January 1923 Rotary Club of Amsterdam

30 January 1929 Greece – Athinai

31 January 1953 Namibia – Windhoek (history needed)

31 January 1979 Mauritania – Nouakchott (history needed)

January 1943 The "Four Way Test" was adopted.  Herbert J. Taylor wrote this short document during a business crisis in 1932. Taylor was president, Rotary Club of Chicago, 1939-40 and Rotary International 1954-55.

January 1972 - The Rotary Club of Upper Manhattan, New York, USA, proposes an enactment, 72-48, to admit women to Rotary clubs to the Council on Legislation. After laughter and discussion, 72-48 is rejected.

World Understanding Month

1 February 1919 Uruguay – Montevideo 

2 February 1932 Lebanon – Beyrouth (history needed)

3 February 1910: Rotary Club of Tacoma, the eighth of the Sixteen Clubs prior to the formation of the National Association of Rotary Clubs.

5 February 1909: Rotary Club of Oakland the Third of the Sixteen Clubs prior to the formation of the National Association of Rotary Clubs.

5 February 1969 Cook Islands – Rarotonga  (history needed)

14 February 1936 Tunisia – Tunis Doyen  (history needed)

16 February 1968 Northern Marianas – Saipan  (history needed)  &  Togo – Lome  (history needed)

17 February 1961 Reunion – Saint-Denis (history needed)  &  Somalia – Mogadiscio (history needed)

18 February 1910: Rotary Club of Minneapolis, the Ninth of the Sixteen Clubs prior to the formation of the National Association of Rotary Clubs.

18 February 1943 Dominican Republic – Santo Domingo (history needed)

19 February 1910: Rotary Club of St. Paul, the Tenth of the Sixteen Clubs prior to the formation of the National Association of Rotary Clubs.

20 February 1926 Rotary Club of Budapest, the First Club of Hungary  &  Rotary Club of  Stockholm, the First Club of Sweden

20 February 1931 Rotary Club of Hong Kong - Chartered 20 February 1931

21 February 1960 Ches Perry, Rotary's first secretary (1910-1932) died

22 February 1910: Rotary Club of St. Louis, the Eleventh of the Sixteen Clubs prior to the formation of the National Association of Rotary Clubs.

23 February 1905: Rotary Club of Chicago the First of the Sixteen Clubs prior to the formation of the National Association of Rotary Clubs.  First gathering, on Thursday evening,  23 February 1905 in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. by attorney Paul P. Harris.  Young Harris, fresh from a wild five years as a reporter, actor, cowboy, seaman, granite salesman, fruit picker and hotel clerk, five years building a successful law practice, then had an idea. It was regarding observations of success and respect which could come from organizing professional acquaintances. More years past. He had given this much thought by the time he and Silvester Schiele walked over to Gus Loehr's office, in Room 711 that cold winter night in 1905, almost 9 years from his arrival in Chicago.  Several weeks later, Schiele was elected the first president of Rotary when the meeting was held in his office. Harris suggested several names, one of them being "Rotary."

23 February 1910: Rotary Club of New Orleans, the Twelfth of the Sixteen Clubs prior to the formation of the National Association of Rotary Clubs.

23 February 1955  Rotary's Golden Jubilee is celebrated on 23 February with much fanfare in Chicago. Then on May 29 through June 2, the 46th Convention again celebrates the 50th year of Rotary and features a last appearance by Rotary's "First Lady." Following the 50th anniversary convention (1955), held in Chicago, Jean Thomson Harris returned to Edinburgh.

23 February 2005  The Rotary Club of Chicago and Rotary International celebrated the centennial of the first meeting of four men whose gathering became a world wide movement.

26 February 1938 Bangladesh – Dhaka

26 February 1962 New Caledonia – Noumea  (history needed)

28 February 1923 Rotario Club of Rio de Janeiro

1 March 1914 The 100th club of the International Association of Rotary Clubs is formed on 1 March in Phoenix, AZ, USA.  However, on that particular Sunday, and only that one day in March, there was not one qualified application but six. There is no record of how #100, of the six (#100 - 105) was determined from that selection. And, so this website, with the "Four Way Test" as a guide, has created /clubs/100+ to recognize the "other five" clubs of that day.

1 March 1956 Burundi – Bujmburu (history needed)

1 March 1992 Albania – Tiranë (history needed)

3 March 1923 Rotary Club of Guernsey

7 March 1962 Barbados – Barbados

8 March 1927 Costa Rica – San Jose  (history needed)

8 March 1968 Afghanistan – Kabul (history needed)

11 March 1929 Israel – Jerusalem  &  Egypt – Cairo

11 March 1988 Mayotte – Mayotte (history needed)

13 - 19: World Rotaract Week

15 March 1924 Rotary Club of Hamilton, Bermuda

17 March 1888. While Paul is at Princeton, Howard Harris dies March 17th, 1888. Paul's grandfather had given him a road map for success in life. He had taught him one thing above all else. That was "Tolerance." "I think I inherited something of grandfather's broad spirit of tolerance. Grandfather was an ambassador of good-will in the eyes of the youngster who sat at his table during his impressionable years; he never spoke evil of any man nor of any man's religion or politics."  (My Road to Rotary, by Paul Harris, page 208, copyright Rotary International)

17 March 1963 Sierra Leone - Freetown  (history needed)

18 March 1960 San Marino – San Marino  (history needed)

19 March 1931 Poland – Warsaw 

23 March 1936 Rotary Club of Suva, Fiji, First Club of the South Pacific Islands

23 March 1955 Turkey – Ankara

23 March 1989 Saint Pierre and Miquelon – Saint Pierre et Miquelon  (history needed)

26 March 1936 Rotary Club of Suva, Fiji, First Club of the South Pacific Islands

27 March 1978 - Rotary International Board of Directors officially revokes the Charter of the Duarte club. Duarte decides to continue to meet as a quasi-Rotary Club. An X was placed over the Rotary insignia, new pins were made, and the club was called: The Ex-Rotary Club of Duarte.

27 March 1987 Solomon Islands – Honiara, Guadalcanal (history needed)

29 March 1944 HIRAM ELMER SHOREY  a tailor, and one of Rotary's first four members dies. "Hiram, due to circumstances beyond his control, did not retain his membership in the club, though he has frequently manifested interest in the movement and shown that he cherishes the memory of the early days." Paul P. Harris

Magazine Month

1 May 1913 Ireland, Dublin first club of Ireland

1 May 1913 Belfast First club of Northern Ireland

1 May 1996 Turks and Caicos Islands – Providencials (history needed)

4 May 1987 - The United States Supreme Court affirmed the 1986 ruling of the Court of Appeals of California in a 7 - 0 opinion

6 May 1980 Greenland – Nuuk (history needed)

7 May 1999 Azerbaijan – Baku (history needed)

10 May 1957 Rotary Club of Liechtenstein, the First Club of Liechtenstein

11 May 1925 Rotary Club of Ciudad de Guatemala, the First Club of Guatemala

11 May 1954 Rotary Club of Belait, the First Club of Brunei

13 May 1997 Antarctica – Base Marambio  (history needed)

14-18 May 1978 Tokyo convention, R.I.'s largest ever, at that time — 39,834 registrants

15 May 1910: Rotary Club of Kansas City, the Thirteenth of the Sixteen Clubs prior to the formation of the National Association of Rotary Clubs.

15 May 1924 Club Rotario of Valparaiso

16 May 1929 Nicaragua – Managua (history needed)

17 May 1973 Rotary Club of Norfolk Island, the First Club of Norfolk Island

17 May 1978 Andorra – Andorra (history needed)

18 May 1977 Lesotho – Maseru (history needed)

19 May 1930 Algeria – Algiers  (history needed)  &  Morocco – Casablanca (history needed)

20 May 1929 Rotary Club of Bucharest, the First Club of Romania

20 May 1956 Iran – Tehran  (history needed)

20 May 1957 Uganda – Kampala

20 May 1959 Guyana – Georgetown

20 May 1994 Belarus – Minsk (history needed)

22-26 May 2004 The largest registration number, to date, was 43,381 at the 2004 convention in Osaka, Japan

23 May 1918 Gustave Loehr, of the Rotary's first four members dies.  "Gustave's personality challenged attention. His was a rare combination, the good in him easily outweighing the bad. He was a stormy petrel, vehement, impetuous, imperative, domineering, in one breath; then calm, docile, and lovable in the next. He was always thought compelling; his words were spoken with lightning like rapidity, and with such force that men frequently stopped in the street to look at him. His educational advantages had been limited, but his English was classical. Where he found the vocabulary with which to give his furious thoughts expression, was a quandary. Gus' membership was of brief duration. The feverish ups and downs of business resulted first in his resignation from membership, and a few years later in his death. Requiescat in pace. Dear Gus, you rested little while here." Paul P. Harris

23 May 1924 Rotary Club of Zurich, the First Club of Switzerland

23 May 1970 Montserrat – Montserrat (history needed)

25 May 1933 Rotary Club of Sofia, the First Club of Bulgaria

24 May 1921 - Mrs. Alwilda F. Harvey, wife of the then Chicago Rotary Club president, stepped into a leadership that brought fifty-nine Rotary wives together at a luncheon in the Sherman House. Then and there Alwilda became founder and president of a new organization, first called the Women of Rotary. She made a good speech, and some of it got into the records. (Neither the men or women of Chicago favoured the RotaryAnn nomenclature.) Mrs Alwilda F Harvey, wife of Club #1's President went on to say: "Women through the ages have always practiced 'Service Above Self' now we have the opportunity to put the slogan into practice in serving our community". The new movement was chartered in Illinois state as a non-profit corporation on May 22nd 1923.

24 May 1960 Yemen – Aden (history needed)

25 May 1910: Rotary Club of Portland, the Fifteenth of the Sixteen Clubs prior to the formation of the National Association of Rotary Clubs.

28 May 1957 French West Indies – Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe (history needed)

29 May 1968 Tonga – Nuku'alofa (history needed)

30 May 1955 Malawi – Blantyre (history needed)

31 May 1935 Iceland – Reykjavik  (history needed)

31 May 1961 Mali – Bamako (history needed)

Rotary Fellowships Month

1 June 1919 First Rotary Club in Asia is chartered in Manila.

1 June 1916 Honolulu first club of Hawaii (prior to statehood)

1 June 1918 Puerto Rico – San Juan

1 June 1922 Norway – Oslo   Peru – Lima

1 June 1955 Ethiopia – Addis Ababa (history needed)

1 June 1977 - Duarte held its 25th Anniversary Celebration and introduced the three women, Mary Lou Elliott, Donna Bogart and Rosemary Freitag, as members.

1 June 1984 Burkina Faso – Ouagadougou (history needed)

1 June 1987 Rotary Club of Lamorinda Sunrise Lafayette Moraga Orinda Rossmoor (longest official name in Rotary history)

1 June 1990 Mozambique – Maputo (history needed)

1 June 1995 Rotary Club of Belgrade, the First Club of Yugoslavia

3 June 1937 Monaco – Monaco (history needed)

4 June 1929 Honduras – Tegucigalpa (history needed)

5-9 June 1922 The International Association of Rotary Clubs is shortened to Rotary International.

5-10 June 1927 The first attempt to convert the Endowment Fund to The Rotary Foundation, led by RI President Harry H. Rogers at the Ostend convention was defeated.

5 June 1990 Rotary Club of Moscow, the First Club of  Russia

6 June 1910: Rotary Club of Lincoln, the Fourteenth of the Sixteen Clubs prior to the formation of the National Association of Rotary Clubs.

7 June 1921 The Rotary movement first came to New Zealand when thirty-five men met at a luncheon in the rooms of the Y.M.C.A., Wellington, on 7 June 1921.  This was a mere sixteen years after the inaugural Rotary meeting in Chicago.

7-11 1964 The agenda of the Council meeting at the RI Convention in Toronto contains an enactment for the admission of women to Rotary clubs. Convention delegates vote that it be withdrawn

9 June 1978 United Arab Emirates – Dubai (history needed)

10 June 1936 Sarawak - Kuching  

10 June 1964 Mozambique – Lourenco Marques (history needed)

11 June 1956 Cote d'Ivorie – Abidjan (history needed)

13 June 1872 “The advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.”  -The Fourth Object of Rotary initially composed by Donald MacRae, born 13 June 1872 and died in 1957.

14 June 1872 Just one day after the birth of Canadian Donald MacRae, James Wheeler Davidson, was born  14 June 1872. An American Born, Calgary Rotarian who carried Rotary "Around the World" 

13 June 1921 - At the International Convention in Edinburgh, Rotary releases a supplement to the 1920 Proceedings written for all members, called the 'Manual of Procedure.' It included prohibitions on women as members of Rotary, or women’s clubs that used the Rotary name. It permitted a “Ladies’ Auxiliary” for a Rotary club, however.

14 June 1958 Laos – Vientiane  (history needed)

14 June 1972 Rotary Club of Port Vila, the First Club of Vanuatu

15 June 1901: Rotary Club of Seattle the Fourth of the Sixteen Clubs prior to the formation of the National Association of Rotary Clubs.

15 June 1978 Anguilla – Anguilla (history needed)

15 June 1990 Micronesia – Pohnpei (history needed)

16 June 1947 Rotary Club of Macau, the First Club of Macau

16 June 1916 El Club Rotario de la Habana, capital of Cuba. First club in a non-English speaking country. 1 June 1916 

17 June 1958 French Guiana – Cayenne  (history needed)

18-22 June 1950 - The Rotary Club of Ahmedabad, India, proposes Enactment 50-10 to the International Convention in Detroit. It would delete the word MALE from Article III of the Standard Club Constitution. It was overwhelmingly rejected. 

18 June 1959 Jamaica – Kingston

22-26 June 1914 and 1,288 Rotarians make the long journey to Houston, TX, USA.  Rotarian Henry Brunier (RIP 1952)  of San Francisco and his wife "Ann" boarded a special train for the convention. Since Ann was the only woman on the train for most of the trip, the other Rotarians began calling her "Rotary Ann". In Houston the Bruniers met Guy and Ann Gundaker of Philadelphia. Soon the name "Rotary Ann"  belonged to Guy's wife as well. The term "Rotary Ann" lasted until the late 1980's. Gundaker was RIP 1923-24.

22 June 1953 Rotary Club of Ndola, The First Club of Zambia

22 June 1959 Rotary Club of Papeete, the First Club of Tahiti

24-28 June 1918 The Rotary Endowment Fund stood at $56.50 in the bank with Interest gained of $1.29 giving a total as at 30th June 1918 of a massive $57.79!

25 June 1909: Rotary Club of Los Angeles the Fifth of the Sixteen Clubs prior to the formation of the National Association of Rotary Clubs.

26-30 June 1922 In 1933, Rotary International held its 24th convention in Boston, MA, USA, from 26-30 June with 8,430 in attendance.  During the convention, a radio broadcast was arranged heard "around the world" and addressed to "non-Rotarians." Perry introduced Harris who told his audience "of the air" that if they have "Love of 'men' in their heart," then they are potential Rotarians! Now you can listen to a recording of this famous broadcast. 

27 June 1930 Rotary Club of Harare, the First Club of Zimbabwe

27 June 1938 Sudan – Khartoum (history needed)

29 June 1970, Paul's client, friend, and founding member Silvester Schiele is born. "Silvester Schiele, my most intimate Chicago friend, and one of the three who first met with me, was made our first president, and has been a constant member." Paul Harris, from "My Road to Rotary"

29 June 1990 Slovenia – Ljubljana  (history needed)

30 June 2006 Rotary Club of Peja, the First Club of Kosova

June 1976 Homer Wood, founder of RC of San Francisco, and instrumental in the formation of Oakland, Seattle, and Los Angeles, dies in June.

Literacy Month

Membership and Extension Month

1 August 1913 London

2 August 1930 Rotary Club of Tallinn, the First Club of Estonia

3 August 1922 Denmark – Copenhagen

5 August 1971 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – St. Vincent (history needed)

6-9 August 1912 the movement became the International Association of Rotary Clubs in Duluth, the Zenith City of the USA.

7 August 1979 Gambia, The – Banjul (history needed)

10 August 1957 Rotary Club of Port of Spain, the First Club of Trinidad and Tobago

11 August 1930 Rotary Club of Singapore, Singapore, -  First Club of Singapore

12 August 1927 Bolivia – La Paz (history needed)

15-17 August 1910, First Rotary convention was held in Chicago, 15-17 August, with sixteen clubs in Rotary. The National Association of Rotary Clubs was formed. Paul Harris was elected president of the Association and served two terms. Chesley R. Perry began 32 years of service as Secretary, and then General Secretary of Rotary from 1910-1942.

18-21 August of 1913, 930 Rotarians gathered in Buffalo, NY, USA for the fourth convention. The charter process catches up with six UK clubs. See Ireland-UK & Archives

New Generations Month
 

10 September 1972 Rotary Club of Antigua and Barbuda, the First Club of Antigua

11 September 1930 Rotary Club of Nairobi, the First Club of East Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika)

11 September 2002 Rotary Club of Dili, the First Club of Timor Leste

12 September 1872 Ches Perry, Rotary's first secretary (1910-1932) was born

12 September 1929 Belize – Belize

13 September 1965 Bahrain – Manama (history needed)

16 September 1967 Djibouti – Djibouti (history needed)

19 September 1957 Papua New Guinea – Port Moresby (history needed)

23 September 1955 Angola – Luanda (history needed)

24 September 1929 Rotary Club of Luxembourg, the First Club of Luxembourg

28 September 1970 Samoa – Apia  (history needed)

30 September 1929 Burma – Thayetmo

Vocational Service Month

1 October 1919 Rotary Club of Shanghai, First Club of China

1 October 1995 Palau, Republic of – Palau (history needed)

2 October 1957 Virgin Islands – St. Thomas (history needed)

3 October 1937 Venezuela – Caracas (history needed)

6 October 1967 Malta – Malta (history needed)

8 October 1927 Rotary Club of Hamburg, the First Club of Germany

9 October 1965 Benin – Cotonou (history needed)

11 October 2000 (Rotary Global History Fellowship) is organized 11 October 2000 by club #43 in Pueblo, Colorado USA

18 October 1964, Gus Loehr, one of the first four to gather in 1905, was born.

19 October 1925 Rotary Club of Vienna, Austria - First Club of Austria 1925

20 October 1920 First Club in Japan, RC of Tokyo

24 October 1958 Ghana – Accra (history needed)

25 October 1888 Birth of Rotarian and explorer Admiral Richard E. Byrd

29 October 1969 American Samoa – Pago Pago (history needed)

30 October 1913, the first meeting of British Clubs which would become RIBI (Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland)

30 October 1958 Madagascar – Antananarivo (history needed)

Rotary Foundation Month

Family Month

1 December 1992 Sao Tome & Principe – Sao Tome (history needed)

3 December 1997 Georgia, Republic of – Tbilisi  (history needed)

4 December 1929 Rotary Club of Seremban, First in the country of Malaysia

5 December 1957 Chad – N’Djamena, Chari-Baguirmi (history needed)

7 December 1927 Rotary Club of Lahore, First club of Pakistan

8 December 1965 Comoro Islands – Moroni (history needed)

14 December 1966 Rwanda – Kigali (history needed)

17 December 1945 Silvester Schiele the first president of a Rotary club dies (Obituary by the General Secretary)

18 December 1957 Eritrea – Asmara

20 December 1923 Rotary Club of Milano, Italy

27 December 1909: Rotary Club of Boston, the Seventh of the Sixteen Clubs prior to the formation of the National Association of Rotary Clubs.