1882

United States Senate ratifies the first Geneva Convention.

1896

Clara Barton and associates travel to the Middle East to conduct a 5-month campaign to bring relief to Armenian victims of Turkish oppression.

1906

Earthquake and fire ravage San Francisco and President Theodore Roosevelt calls on the Red Cross to lead a major relief effort lasting for months.

An International Congress revises the original Geneva Convention of 1864, expanding it to include protection of the war wounded at sea as approved by a Hague conference of 1899.

1916

The Red Cross introduces its Home Service to aid families of U.S. troops involved in skirmishes along the Mexican border.

The Women's Bureau of the Red Cross recruits women across the nation to make surgical dressings, hospital garments, and refugee clothing for sister Red Cross societies and military hospitals in war-torn Europe, the beginnings of what becomes the Red Cross Production Corps.

1917

After the United States went to war in April 1917, the Red Cross staff and volunteers tended to the needs of the wounded and sick, and the able-bodied and disabled veterans and civilians overseas.

Red Cross dedicates its headquarters building in Washington, D.C., as a memorial to "the heroic women of the Civil War," both North & South.

Red Cross starts service to blinded war veterans in Baltimore, Maryland.

Red Cross holds first War Fund drive surpassing a goal of $100 million in one week.

President Woodrow Wilson calls on youth to join the newly formed Junior Red Cross.

1931

The public meets President Herbert Hoover's call for $10 million in donations to support Red Cross relief during the drought affecting 23 Midwestern states in the "Dust Bowl."

The American Red Cross joins 20 other Red Cross societies in providing relief to survivors of one of the worst floods in history as overflowing rivers in China cause an estimated 1 million deaths.

1932

Red Cross begins the distribution of government surplus wheat and cotton products to victims of drought in the Dust Bowl.

1942

Red Cross makes strides to expand its ranks by convening meetings with African-American leaders to encourage their participation.

Overseas the Red Cross begins operating clubmobiles and clubs for servicemen in England including London's famous Rainbow Corner.

1946

The Red Cross inaugurates AMCROSS, its own telecommunication network that improves domestic communications, while it continues to use military networks for overseas transmission of messages.

1956

The Andrea Doria sinks following collision with another ocean liner, the Stockholm, in thick fog off Nantucket Island, causing 51 deaths. Red Cross nurses and other volunteers aid survivors as they arrive in New York City.

The American Red Cross engages in what is then the unusual practice of aiding victims of civil unrest as it assists refugees from the Hungarian revolt against Communist rule both in Europe and as some immigrate to this country.

1962

The American Red Cross begins collecting medicines and food for Cuba in exchange for release of Bay of Pigs prisoners of war.

1967

In an effort to increase the donations of extremely rare blood types, American Red Cross national headquarters agrees to host a national Rare Donor Registry for blood types occurring less than once in 200 people.

1977

President Jimmy Carter makes his 51st blood donation in a blood mobile at the White House.

1981

The American Red Cross adopts the slogan, "Ready for a New Century," as it celebrates its 100th anniversary during a five-day convention in Washington, D.C., its birthplace. The U.S. Postal Service issues a commemorative stamp for the occasion bearing the words, "The Gift of Self," and showing a uniformed volunteer feeding an infant.

1986

The Red Cross introduces the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry, based in its St. Paul, Minnesota, Blood Services Region.

1987

The American Red Cross opens its Holland Laboratory dedicated to biomedical research.

1992

The first National Testing Laboratory, applying standardized tests to ensure safety of Red Cross blood products, opens in Dedham, Massachusetts.

The Red Cross responds as Hurricane Andrew blasts Florida and leads to multi-year Red Cross aid.

1995

More than 9,000 Red Cross workers respond to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City by providing a range of immediate and long-term assistance to victims and their families that continues today in some forms.

1996

The U.S. Congress passes the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act that leads to creation of Red Cross Aviation Incident Response (AIR) Teams to assist victims' families.

The American Red Cross sends a nine-member team to Bosnia as Operation Joint Endeavor, a peacekeeping effort involving U.S. troops, begins.

The Red Cross is the first national blood bank to implement a new Food and Drug Administration approved test for early detection of the presence of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus in blood rather than the body's response to it, further reducing the risk of transmission of the disease.