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February 23, 1905. The airplane had yet to stay aloft more than a
few minutes. The first motion picture theater had not yet opened.
Norway and Sweden were peacefully terminating their union. On this
particular day, a Chicago lawyer, Paul P. Harris, called three friends
to a meeting. What he had in mind was a club that would kindle fellowship
among members of the business community. It was an idea that grew
from his desire to find within the large city the kind of friendly
spirit that he knew in the villages where he had grown up.
The four businessmen didn't decide then
and there to call themselves a Rotary club, but their get-together
was, in fact, the first meeting of the world's first Rotary club.
As they continued to meet, adding others to the group, they rotated
their meetings among the members' places of business, hence the
name. Soon after the club name was agreed upon, one of the new members
suggested a wagon wheel design as the club emblem. It was the precursor
of the familiar cogwheel emblem now worn by Rotarians around the
world. By the end of 1905, the club had 30 members.
The second Rotary club was formed
in 1908 half a continent away from Chicago in San Francisco, California.
It was a much shorter leap across San Francisco Bay to Oakland,
California, where the third club was formed. Others followed in
Seattle, Washington, Los Angeles, California, and New York City,
New York. Rotary became international in 1910 when a club was formed
in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. By 1921 the organization was represented
on every continent, and the name Rotary International was adopted
in 1922.
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