1863 International Committee of the Red Cross founded by Henry Dunant. 1864 The 1st Geneva Convention was adopted to protect the sick & wounded on battlefields.

	1881 American Red Cross founded by Clara Barton. Response to fires in Michigan marks the organization’s first disaster relief effort 1898 Clara Barton sailed to Havana with supplies for those affected by the Spanish-American War. The American Red Cross provided service for military forces for the first time.
1905 Original 1900 congressional charter of American Red Cross revised, giving the organization the foundation upon which it provides disaster relief & assistance to the military today.

1909 Jane Delano named head of Red Cross Nursing Service. 1910 American Red Cross First Aid program began.

1914 Commodore Wilbert E. Longfellow, the “Amiable Whale”, introduced water safety instruction.

1917 San Luis Obispo County Chapter is founded in a year of unprecedented growth for the American Red Cross as the nation responds to US entry into WWI. Junior Red Cross is formed. American Red Cross raised over $100 million in one week for the War Fund.

1918    Red Cross Nurses respond to the Influenza pandemic. Over 14,000  women joined the effort.

1941 National Blood Donor Service established under director Dr. Charles Drew to provide plasma for allied soldiers in WWII. Blood Service to civilians began in 1948.

 

1965 International Red Cross Movement adopted its seven fundamental principles: Humanity, Impartiality, Neutrality, Independence, Voluntary Service, Unity and Universality

 

1989  Red Cross aids 14,00 families affected by the Loma Prieta earthquake in Northern California.

2001 American Red Cross responded to terrorist attacks on September 11.

 

2002 Red Cross and other groups launched a Measles Initiative to eradicate measles in Sub-Saharan Africa.

 

2005 Red Cross mobilized its largest, single disaster relief effort to date after Hurricane Katrina--one of the most destructive storms in the history of the Gulf Coast which killed nearly 2,000 and left millions homeless

 

Today  Red Cross staff and volunteers continue to provide humanitarian assistance at home and around the world.