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- As the world's first service club, Rotary was formed on 23 February 1905 in Chicago, Illinois
- The Founder of the Rotary Club of Chicago was Paul Percival Harris - a lawyer
- Harris wished to recapture in a professional club the same friendly spirit he had felt in the small towns of his youth. (e.g. Vermont in 1880s)
- The first four members were Sylvester Schiele (coal dealer) Harris, Hiram Shorey (merchant tailor) & Gus Loehr (mining engineer)
- The group first met in Gus’ office in Room 711 of the Unity Building at 127 North Dearborn St, Chicago.
- Sylvester Schiele was the 1st Rotary club president.
- The name "Rotary" derived from the early practice of rotating meetings among members' offices.
- Rotary's popularity spread – by 1910, 16 clubs had been chartered from San Francisco to New York.
- In 1911, Rotary became International with the charter of Winnipeg Rotary, in Canada
- Paul Harris was elected as Rotary’s first International President in the same year
- By 1921, Rotary clubs had been formed on six continents, and the organization adopted the name “Rotary International” a year later.(1922)
- As Rotary grew, its mission expanded beyond serving the professional and social interests of club members.
- Rotarians began pooling their resources and contributing their talents to help serve communities in need.
- The organization's dedication to this ideal is best expressed in its principal motto: Service Above Self (officially adopted in 1950).
- Rotary also adopted in 1943, a code of ethics, called The 4-Way Test - now translated into hundreds of languages.