Paul Harris was a lawyer living in Chicago, Illinois when he went for a walk one night with a professional friend to his suburban home. As they strolled through the neighborhood, Paul's friend introduced him to various tradesmen in their stores. This reminded him of his New England village and he wondered, " Why not have a fellowship composed of businessmen from different occupations, without restrictions of politics or religion? "

On 23 February, 1905, Paul Harris held the first meeting with three other businessmen: Silvester Schiele, a coal merchant; Gustavus Loehr, a mining engineer; and Hiram Shorey, a merchant tailor. 

The new club was named " Rotary " because the members met in rotation at their different businesses.

The second Rotary club was founded half a continent away in San Francisco, California in 1908.

By 1910, there were 16 clubs and the National Association of Rotary Clubs was organized.

In 1912, when clubs were created in Canada and Great Britain, the name was changed to the International Association of Rotary Clubs.

This was later shortened to Rotary International.

Paul Harris was the first president of both organizations.

By 27 January 1947, when Paul Harris died, Rotary had grown from a meeting of 4 businessmen to over 6,000 clubs meeting all around the world.

Today, there are more than 1.2 million Rotarian meeting in over 29,500 clubs located in approximately 160 countries.