The Old Number One

1. 26th September 1919 - RJ Coombs obtained permission to open a Rotary Club in Calcutta and the Club was born at Peliti’s Restaurant in Old Court House Street, Calcutta.
2. 1st January 1920 – Club Charter received
3. Clubs were the formed in other countries such as Burma, Ceylon, Malay, Java and Siam; Rotary Club of Calcutta became the central piece. Thus our Club got its name “the Old Number One”.
4. Rotary Year 1925-26 - Our first Club Roster was published and it continues till date
5. Bally Bridge in 1925 - Calcutta Rotarians persuaded the government to construct a motorway in addition to the railway tracks on the bridge.
6. 18th August 1925 - Mahatma Gandhi addressed our Club on “ The Economic and Spiritual Value of the Charka”
7. 28th December 1925 - We started Annual Children’s Treat to treat deprived children to an “a day of Sunshine” at Great Eastern Hotel, Kolkata. It continues till date and on 2nd December 2018 – our 93rd Children’s Treat was concluded in Nicco Park in which 1500 Children participated from dawn to dusk
8. Howrah Bridge 1927 – Our Club members persuaded the government to replace the dilapidated pontoon bridge with a modern steel one.
9. Rotary 1962 – 63 First Indian RI President from our Club – President John F Kennedy welcomes RI President Nitish Chandra Laharry from our Club  to the White House.
10. 1st July 1962  Nitish Chandra Laharry  Children’s Library (NCLCL)- West Bengal Government Governor Padmaja Naidu lays the foundation stone of the library.
    A few years later Rotary Sadan Vocational Training centre started that presently runs computer courses, spoken english classes, cultural activities and yoga for under-privileged children. We have some 400 students and 14 teachers. 
    We maintain an Archive section for books,reports, photographs, trophies, mementoes, flags, a visitors’ book and many precious memorabilia. This is repository of Rotary Knowledge.
11. 20th November 1986 the Dalai Lama addresses our Club’s Regular Weekly Meeting in the Ball Room of the Oberoi Grand endorsing service with humility.
12. Since 1987 -  Our club had been undertaking Integrated Village Development at Begumpur RCC, earlier through 3H Grant project, and currently with local funding. This is a flagship project which is still running today. The project was instrumental in introducing broccoli to the city of Calcutta
13. Since 1990 Endowment Awards – Our club started an Endowment fund by creating a corpus fund and the interest earned goes to support the award to under privileged and outstanding individuals and organisation supporting them. Approximately 120 awards are given each year. 
14. 20th April 1992 – R.I. President Rajendra K Saboo laid the foundation stone of Rotary Sadan, which is now an icon of Rotary in the District.
15. 9th March 1995 Platinum Jubilee - Day and Night, Double Wicket Cricket Championship at Eden Gardens that raised substantial funds for Rotary Sadan. The winning duo was Sachin and Srinath with Azhar following.
16. 1977 – 2001 – Rotary Clinics functioned at Pratapaditya Road, Calcutta
17. Since 2000 – Our Club had been undertaking Integrated Village Development project at Bishnupur Uchhal Probaho RCC as flagship project which is still running today in 2019-20.
18. Rotary Year 2000-01 - Sevika Sahayika Training for 6 month theory and 6 month practical training for approximately 100 students a year started 19 years ago and it continues.
19. 9th September 2004 Centennial Bell – Our club hosted the Centennial Bell Celebration in India.
20. 14th November 2004 Flight of Fancy – Our Club took one hundred school children on free joy ride in an airplane over Calcutta.
21. 2005 -18 Low Cost Toilets and Bore Wells– Our Club had been undertaking Water and Sanitation projects with low cost toilets and bore well pumps for approximately 8000 beneficiaries daily .
22. 2010 – 18: Our club in association with  Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Science completed over 500 children heart surgeries and some adult surgeries too.
23. 2009-2019  Pay and Use Toilets – We have installed  3 Pay and Use toilets serving some 5000 people daily.
24. 2009-2018 Children Immunisation  - Our Club have undertaken many projects immunising some 75,000 children
25. Since 2009- 18 Sundarbans Delta of Ganges  - we undertook many infrastructural development and health projects serving thousands of villagers
26. November 2011 our Club advocated changes on Indian Railways sanitation facilities inside  railway coaches with Control Discharge Toilet System (CDTS)  and bio toilets.
27. 2014 -18 Public Water Kiosks – We have installed 3 safe drinking  public water serving thousands of people daily . 
28. 2014 -18 Eye Retinal Disorder treatment project – We have equipped and furnished three entire wards at Lokeswarananda Eye Hospital in Purulia serving over 100 patients  a day, over and above thousands of routine cataract surgeries.
29. 2014-2018 School projects – Our Club supported over 20  schools with construction/renovation  of school building, school hostel, schoolbooks, teachers’ salaries , meals, computers, rainwater harvesting and safe drinking water, toilets  etc . First ever Rotary Hostel is under construction.
30. 2016-2018 – Techno Global Hospital Rotary Ward giving free treatment to over 1000 patients year, and Mercy Hospital Rotary operation theatres (2) diagnosingand treating over 25,000 patients a year, a night shelter Institute of Child Heath giving accommodation to over 100 patient parties a day.
31. Other major projects – We supported Park Nursing Home and Ramakrishna Seva Sadan with acquisition of equipment.