1920: Two years after launching educational, vocational and employment programs for World War I veterans, more than 50,000 students are enrolled in K of C-sponsored evening school programs across the United States and Canada. The Order also launches a correspondence school.
1920: 235 Knights sail from New York City to France. In Paris, they are greeted by Church and civic authorities, who thank the Knights for their WWI work. In Metz, a large equestrian statue of the French patriot Lafayette, funded by the Knights, is unveiled. The K of C delegation continues to Rome, where it is received in a private audience with Pope Benedict XV on Aug. 28, 1920.
1923: In response to the passage of laws in Oregon prohibiting children under 16 from attending private
schools, the Knights work to overturn the law. In 1925, the Supreme Court declares the Oregon law
unconstitutional.
1924: In response to a request from Pope Benedict XV, the Knights opens St. Peter’s Oratory, the first
K of C recreation center for youth in Rome. Four more are established between 1924 and 1927.
1924: The Order’s anti-defamation work resumes after World War I. The K of C Historical Commission
publishes the Knights of Columbus Racial Contributions Series. Three monographs highlighting the
positive contributions of African-, Jewish- and German-Americans are published.
1925: The Knights’ Rome youth work stimulates interest in similar projects in North America, and the Columbian Squires program is established. Brother Barnabas McDonald consults with the Knights on the creation of the Squires. The institution of the first Squires circle takes place at the Supreme Council
meeting in Duluth, Minn.
1926: Supreme Knight Flaherty, Deputy Supreme Knight Martin H. Carmody and other officers meet with President Calvin Coolidge about the persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico. The Order launches a $1 million educational campaign to influence American public opinion on the need for a strong stand against the Mexican government’s attacks on the Church. It takes more than 10 years for the tensions to
ease.
1961: On Oct. 11, 1961, Supreme Knight Hart visits President John F. Kennedy — the first Catholic
president — in the White House. Kennedy, a Fourth Degree Knight, reportedly greets Hart by saying,
“Hello, Chief.”
1963: The Order finances installation of the carillon of 56 bells at the National Shrine.
1963: In the spring of 1963, Hart attends a special White House meeting of religious leaders to discuss
civil rights.
1964: Supreme Knight John W. McDevitt takes office. His first priority is to amend the Order’s admission policies to counter charges of racial discrimination.
1964: The Knights provides funding for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, which has conducted social scientific studies on the Church since its founding.
1965: In April 1965, the Order co-sponsors with the Archdiocese of Hartford a Conference on Human Rights at Yale University in New Haven. More than 2,000 people attend the conference on interracial justice.
1965: At the Supreme Council meetings of 1965 and 1966, McDevitt addresses how the Knights will
respond to the Second Vatican Council and its call for renewal and reform within the Church and its
organizations.
1966: Supreme Knight McDevitt visits the Vatican Transmitting Center for the blessing of a new
shortwave radio transmitter donated by the Knights. Pope Paul VI blesses the transmitter.
1969: The present Supreme Council headquarters is completed. Its four 320-foot towers symbolize the
Knights’ four principles of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism.
1969: The Order contributes $75,000 to the U.S. Catholic Conference’s Task Force on Urban Problems
to help address poverty and discrimination. The Order publishes a booklet on Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical affirming the Church’s teaching on marriage and procreation.
1971: The Order marks the achievement of $2 billion of insurance in force; today that figure is nearly $86 billion.
1975: The Order agrees to fund “uplink” transmissions for major worldwide satellite telecasts from the Vatican; the program continues to this day with audiences estimated in the billions for Midnight Mass from St. Peter’s Basilica.
1977: Supreme Knight Virgil C. Dechant begins his administration with a visit to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, where he places his work under the Virgin Mary’s protection.
1978: Beginning this year, each new First Degree Knight receives a rosary blessed by the supreme chaplain, a practice that continues to this day.
1978: Pope John Paul I receives Supreme Knight Dechant and other K of C representatives in the pontiff’s first private audience after his election.
1979: The Order holds its first Marian Hour of Prayer program. Images of Our Lady of Guadalupe circulate among the Order’s councils.
1979: In cooperation with the U.S. bishops, the Order underwrites the filming of Pope John Paul II’s first pastoral visit to the United States.
1979: The Knights establishes a $1 million Father Michael J. McGivney Fund for New Initiatives in Catholic Education to be administered by the National Catholic Educational Association. Annual proceeds are used to this day to finance programs that advance Catholic schools.
1981: The Order establishes the Vicarius Christi Fund, with annual earnings used for the pope’s personal charities. The initial fund of $10 million is increased to $20 million in 1988.
1981: The Order begins a four-year restoration of St. Mary’s Church, the birthplace of the Knights. The renovations include work on the organ, floors, pews, ceilings, statues and more. The project is capped by the placement of a 179-foot steeple atop the church.
1982: The Knights of Columbus celebrates its centennial. President Ronald Reagan attends the Order’s
100th annual convention. Also in attendance is Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, who is sent by Pope John
Paul II as the pope’s personal envoy.
1982: The Order establishes several funds to help finance studies for priests and seminarians in Rome at
pontifical colleges. These funds have been increased over the years to support seminarians and priests
from the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Philippines.
1984: In recognition of the Order’s volunteer service, President Ronald Reagan awards the Knights a
President’s Volunteer Action Award at White House ceremonies.
1985: The Order presents a mobile television production unit to the Vatican Television Center for the
taping, recording and transmission of papal ceremonies. It is used during Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s historic visit with Pope John Paul II that same year.
1985: The Order agrees to underwrite the restoration of the 65,000-square-foot facade of St. Peter’s Basilica, the first time it has been cleaned in more than 350 years. Several subsequent projects have taken place at St. Peter’s, including the restoration of chapels and of the Holy Year Door.
1988: Mother Teresa visits the Supreme Council office. The Order agrees to print copies of her Constitutions of the Missionaries of Charity, prayer cards and other religious items, a project that continues to this day.
1992: The Knights celebrates the fifth centenary of evangelization in the Americas. Replicas of the Cross of the New World presented to Pope John Paul II on his pastoral visit to Santo Domingo in 1984 are distributed by the Knights and used in dioceses throughout the Order in prayer services highlighting the theme of evangelization.
1992: Mother Teresa is presented with the Order’s first Gaudium et Spes Award at the 110th Supreme Convention in New York. The “Joy and Hope” award acknowledges her contributions to the Church and the world.
1995: The Order co-sponsors with the Diocese of Brooklyn, N.Y., Pope John Paul II’s Mass at Aqueduct Racetrack during the pope’s pastoral visit to the United States.
1997: The Archdiocese of Hartford officially opens the cause for canonization of Father Michael J. McGivney with support from the Knights of Columbus. The Father McGivney Guild is established to promote the cause.
2001: The Knights of Columbus Museum opens in New Haven. In addition to a permanent exhibit on the Order's history, the museum has featured numerous temporary exhibits and priceless works of art, such as Michelangelo's 16-foot wooden study model for the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica.
2001: In response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Knights on Sept. 12 establishes its $1 million Heroes Fund. Checks for $3,000 are presented to the families of all full-time professional law enforcement, firefighters and emergency medical personnel who lost their lives at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Forty-five Knights were killed on 9/11.
2002: The Order establishes a $2 million Pacem in Terris Fund to promote peace and education initiatives in the Holy Land and provide support for the Christian community there.
2003: 100,000 copies of a pocket-sized prayer book, Armed With the Faith, are printed by the Order and the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and sent to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with 10,000 rosaries.
2006: In its first international expansion in almost a century, the Order charters its first councils in Poland, beginning with John Paul II Council 14000 in Krakow.
2006: In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. Gulf, Knights donate more than $10 million and 100,000 volunteer hours to help rebuild Catholic churches and schools.
2007: The Knights of Columbus Incarnation Dome, a 3,780-square-foot mosaic depicting mysteries of Christ’s life, is constructed at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
2008: On March 16, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI approves a decree of heroic virtue for Father Michael J. McGivney, declaring him “Venerable.”
2009: The Knights of Columbus Ultrasound Initiative launches Jan. 22, 2009. To date, more than 250 ultrasound machines have been purchased for pro-life pregnancy centers using matching funds from the Order’s Culture of Life Fund, established in 2008.
2009: Following the 127th Supreme Convention in Phoenix, the Order hosts the first International Marian Congress and Guadalupe Festival, gathering about 20,000 participants.
2011: To address the severe shortage of military chaplains, the Knights established a new scholarship program for the Military Archdiocese’s Co-Sponsored Seminarian program.
2011: The Order establishes a Shrine of Blessed John Paul II in Washington, D.C., at the site of the former John Paul II Cultural Center. Supreme Knight Anderson announces the initiative will include permanent exhibits celebrating the life and teachings of the late pope and the 500-year Catholic heritage of North America.
2013: A new K of C initiative began to provide funding for Boston Marathon bombing victims, helping amputees acquire prosthetic devices not covered by insurance.
2013: Francis: The Pope from the New World, a K of C-produced documentary on the life story of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, aired Oct. 20. The film aired on several networks and was also made available on DVD.
2014: The Knights of Columbus is recognized by the Ethisphere Institute, an independent center of research promoting best practices in corporate ethics and governance, as a 2014 World’s Most Ethical Company.®
2015: The Guadium et Spes Award, the Order’s highest honor, was presented to Cardinal Francis George, the 11th recipient of the award since its establishment in 1992.
2015: Supreme Knight Carl Anderson presented charters for St. Andrew Kim Daegun Council 16000 and St. Paul Chong Hasang Council 16178 in Seoul, South Korea, on April 18. Named for 19th-century Korean martyrs, these are the first councils instituted in Korea outside a military base and the first on the mainland of Asia.
2015: The Knights of Columbus surpassed $100 billion of life insurance in force, highlighting the fraternal benefit society’s mission to protect Catholic families.
2016: The Order’s highest honor, the Guadium et Spes Award, was presented to the Little Sisters of the Poor for their witness to the Gospel and their defense of religious liberty. The community was the 12th recipient of the award since its establishment in 1992.
2017: The Knights of Columbus documentary, Liberating a Continent: John Paul II and the Fall of Communism is honored with two Emmy Awards at the 58th annual Chicago/Midwest Emmy Awards, hosted by the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
2017: The Knights of Columbus contributed almost $2 million to various aid programs in the Middle East that have received little to no funding from the U.S. government or international community since ISIS began its genocidal campaign against the region’s religious minorities in 2014.
2017: Supreme Knight Carl Anderson: addressed the Convocation of Catholic Leaders in Orlando, July 3. This convocation of leaders from Catholic organizations and dioceses around the country was convened by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to help examine and discuss challenges for the Church in America.