Today we celebrate Rotary’s founding in Chicago on February 23, 1905, as well as World Peace and Understanding Day which came about as a way to mark the anniversary of that first Rotary meeting.

Paul Harris wanted to create a group of people that would meet to exchange ideas whilst also building long-lasting friendships. Harris and three others, Gustavus Loehr, Silvestor Schiele, and Hiram Shorey, met in a downtown office building in Chicago for the first meeting. They decided to call their club Rotary because the locations for their meeting would “rotate.”

What is your club or district doing today to mark the occasion?