Time line of Significant Events as President

1995

· 12 March - Set apart as 15th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

· 1 April - Sustained by Church members as 15th president of the Church

· 8 April - Dedicated the Tuacahn arts center and amphitheater in Ivins, Utah

· 13 May - Broke ground for Vernal Utah Temple, the 10th temple in Utah

• 17–23 June - Held meetings with members in Alaska, the first time a president of the Church has done so

• 23 September - Read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" at general Relief Society meeting

• 13 November - Met with president of the United States at White House to discuss importance of families

• 20 December - Announced new logo design for the name of the Church

1996

• 6 April - Announced construction of a new meeting hall in Salt Lake City that would hold three to four times more people than Salt Lake Tabernacle

• 7 April - Interviewed by Mike Wallace of CBS’s 60 Minutes

• 22 April - Dedicated David O. McKay Events Center at Utah Valley State College in Provo, Utah "

• 26 May - Dedicated Hong Kong China Temple

• 11 June - Broke ground for Madrid Spain Temple

• 29 June - Rededicated refurbished This Is the Place Monument and State Park in Salt Lake City

• 13 October - Dedicated Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple

• 10 November - Broke ground for Cochabamba Bolivia Temple

1997

• 8–17 May - Toured New Zealand and Australia and spoke to a total of more than 55,000 people

• 28 May - Dedicated new nine-story headquarters building for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City

• 1 June - Dedicated St. Louis Missouri Temple

• 5 June - Spoke at graduation ceremonies for 100-year-old Juárez Academy in the Church colonies of Juárez, Mexico

• 22 July - Addressed 50,000 people at This Is the Place Monument and State Park after commemorative Mormon Trail Wagon Train entered Salt Lake City

• 24 July - Broke ground for new assembly building in Salt Lake City

• 24–25 July - Participated in Pioneer Sesquicentennial Spectacular at BYU's Cougar Stadium in Provo, Utah, for 130,000 people

• 9–10 August - Addressed 56,000 people in four nations in South America: Paraguay, Ecuador, Venezuela and Uruguay

• 4–5 October - Announced plans to begin building smaller temples around the world

• 2 November - Dedicated Vernal Utah Temple

1998

• 14–22 February - Toured five nations in Africa — Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa — speaking to more than 30,000 people; he became first Church president to ever visit West Africa

• 16 February - Announced plans for temple in Ghana, the first in West Africa

• 4–5 April - Announced plans to construct an additional 30 smaller temples

• 25 April - Announced plans in member meeting to build temple in Columbus, Ohio

• 26 April - Addressed 20,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York City

• 7–10 June - Dedicated Preston England Temple

• 31 July–8 August - Addressed more than 50,000 members during eight-day, 12-city tour of Canada; announced plans for two more temples in Canada

• 8 September - Appeared on CNN's Larry King Live

• 6 November - Received International Executive of the Year award from BYU’s Marriott School of Business

• 1 December - Participated with Salt Lake Mayor Deedee Corradini in joint announcement of a proposal for the Church to purchase part of Main Street

1999

• 9–10 January - Dedicated Anchorage Alaska Temple

• 20 February - Announced plans to build temple at Palmyra, New York

• 6–7 March - Dedicated Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico Temple

• 19–21 March - Dedicated Madrid Spain Temple

• 1 April - Helped open 50-year-old Sunday School time capsule

• 4 April - Made surprise announcement to rebuild Nauvoo Temple

• 24 April - Dedicated Bogotá Colombia Temple

• 25 April - Addressed 57,500 Church members and friends in soccer stadium in Santiago, Chile

• 13 May - Addressed Los Angeles World Affairs Council, speaking of the worldwide operations of the Church

• 24 May - Linked by satellite broadcast between Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C., officially launched FamilySearch™ Internet Genealogy Service

• 1–2 August - Dedicated Guayaquil Ecuador Temple

• 19 August - Officially announced that new assembly building in Salt Lake City would be called the Conference Center

• 21 August - Dedicated Spokane Washington Temple

• 4–5 September - Dedicated Columbus Ohio Temple

• 11 September - Dedicated monument honoring memory of 120 people killed in Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857 in southern Utah

• 16–17 October - Dedicated Columbia South Carolina Temple

• 23–24 October - Dedicated Detroit Michigan Temple

• 24 October - Broke ground for reconstruction of Nauvoo Illinois Temple

• 14 November - Dedicated Halifax Nova Scotia Temple the same day the Regina Saskatchewan Temple was dedicated by President Boyd K. Packer, the first time in Church history two temples were dedicated on the same day

• 20–21 November - Dedicated Billings Montana Temple

• 8 December - Presided over sealing of time capsule to be opened in 50 years for Sunday School bicentennial

• 11–12 December - Dedicated Edmonton Alberta Temple

• 18–19 December - Dedicated Raleigh North Carolina Temple

• 24 December - Interviewed on Larry King Live

2000

• 9 January - Dedicated St. Paul Minnesota Temple

• 22 January - Addressed more than 15,000 members in Laie, Hawaii, to commemorate sesquicentennial year of establishment of the Church on the Hawaiian Islands

• 23–24 January - Dedicated Kona Hawaii Temple

• 27 January - Met with Abdurrahman Wahid, president of Indonesia, in Jakarta, Indonesia

• 1 February - Completed an 11-day tour of Pacific Rim where he traveled 22,670 miles and spoke to over 26,600 people

• 22 February - His book Standing for Something: Ten Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes went on sale

• 26 February - Dedicated Ciudad Juárez Mexico Temple

• 27 February - Dedicated Hermosillo Sonora Mexico Temple, the 50th temple he had dedicated or rededicated

• 5 March - Dedicated Albuquerque New Mexico Temple

• 8 March - Spoke to National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

• 1–2 April - Presided over first general conference held in new Conference Center

• 1–2 April - "Special Witnesses of Christ”, a video production of the testimonies of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, was shown between sessions of general conference

• 6 April - Dedicated Palmyra New York Temple; an estimated 1.3 million members participated in the dedication in stake centers in six time zones

• 9 April - Dedicated Fresno California Temple

• 30 April - Dedicated Cochabamba Bolivia Temple

• 4-Jun - Dedicated Montreal Quebec Temple

• 11–18 June - Dedicated Fukuoka Japan Temple (June 11), Adelaide Australia Temple (June 15), Melbourne Australia Temple (June 16) and Suva Fiji Temple (June 18), the first time in Church history a president has ever dedicated four overseas temples in one trip

• 21 June - Announced that the two-year Ricks College will begin phasing into a four-year institution to be known as Brigham Young University–Idaho

• 23 June - Celebrated 90th birthday at Conference Center with 21,000 guests and many prominent Latter-day Saint musicians, including Gladys Knight

• 16 July - Dedicated Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple

• 20 August - Dedicated Caracas Venezuela Temple

• 26–27 August - Dedicated Houston Texas Temple

• 3 September - Dedicated Birmingham Alabama Temple

• 17 September - Dedicated Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple

• 1 October - Dedicated Boston Massachusetts Temple, marking the fulfillment of President Hinckley’s goal to have 100 operating temples by the end of the 20th century

• 8-Oct - During Sunday morning session of general conference, dedicated 21,000-seat Conference Center as a gathering place for members

• 5 November - Presided over cornerstone ceremony for Nauvoo Illinois Temple

• 12 November - Spoke to more than 21,000 young adults at newly dedicated Conference Center and thousands more around the world via satellite -- the first meeting of its kind

• 15 November - Rededicated BYU's newly expanded Harold B. Lee Library

• 13 December - Visited San Juan, Puerto Rico, for the first time and spoke to thousands of members who gathered at a fireside

• 15 December - Dedicated Recife Brazil Temple

• 17 December - Dedicated Pôrto Alegre Brazil Temple

2001

• 13 January - Named one of the most admired men in the world for the second consecutive year by an annual survey of Americans -- included on the list were Pope John Paul II, President Bill Clinton, Gen. Colin Powell and President-elect George W. Bush

• 3-Mar - Honored by the Association for Mormon Letters for his book Standing for Something

• 18-Mar - Dedicated Montevideo Uruguay Temple

• 31-Mar - Announced Perpetual Education Fund during priesthood session of general conference

• 22-Apr - Dedicated Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple

• 27-Apr - Received honorary doctorate degree from Utah Valley State College

• 29-Apr - Dedicated Guadalajara Mexico Temple

• 20-May - Dedicated Perth Australia Temple

• 1-Jun - Hosted and spoke at Brigham Young's 200th birthday celebration, held in the Tabernacle

• 14 September - Appeared on CNN's Larry King Live and delivered message of hope and comfort to citizens of the United States in the wake of the September 11 attacks

• 21-Sep - Along with 27 other religious leaders, attended a private prayer meeting for President George W. Bush at the White House

2002

• 7-Feb - Participated in Olympic torch relay

• 7-Feb - Olympic interview with NBC’s Today aired

• 8-Feb - Met with President Bush and first lady Laura Bush during their visit to Salt Lake City for Olympics

• 9-Feb - Met with Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations, during his visit to Salt Lake City for Olympics

• 13-Feb - Met with Susanne Riess-Passer, vice chancellor of Austria, during her visit to Salt Lake City for Olympics

• 22-Feb - Olympic interview with Tom Brokaw aired on NBC

• 22-Feb - Met with German President Johannes Rau during his visit to Salt Lake City for Olympics

• 8–24 February - Interviewed by NHK, ORF, ARD, NOS and numerous other international and national media organizations

• 3-Mar - Dedicated Snowflake Arizona Temple

• 7-Mar - Participated in Paralympic torch relay

• 21-Apr - Dedicated Lubbock Texas Temple

• 29-Apr - With Elder Henry B. Eyring, met with Vicente Fox, president of Mexico

• 17-May - Dedicated Campinas Brazil Temple

• 19 May - Dedicated Asunción Paraguay Temple

• 20-May - With President James E. Faust, met with Patrick Manning, prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago

• 12-Jun - Spoke at Los Angeles World Affairs Council for the third time

• 27-Jun - Dedicated rebuilt Nauvoo Illinois Temple

• 1-Jul - Dedicated new Hill Cumorah Visitors’ Center

• 7-Sep - Dedicated Freiberg Germany Temple

• 8-Sep - Dedicated The Hague Netherlands Temple

• 9–10 September - Visited Kiev, Ukraine, and Moscow, Russia, becoming the first Church president to visit those nations

• 17-Nov - Rededicated Monticello Utah Temple

2003

• 11-Jan - Addressed Church leaders worldwide during historic priesthood leadership training satellite broadcast from the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City

• 7-Feb - Addressed 40,000 full-time and volunteer Church Educational System instructors worldwide via the Church satellite system from the Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City

• 8-Feb - On the 125th anniversary of the Primary, addressed nearly one million Latter-day Saint children around the world during historic satellite broadcast from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah

• 12-Feb - Met with Bulgarian Ambassador Elena Borislava Poptodorova in Salt Lake City, Utah

• 18 March - Announced a new president for Brigham Young University during a regularly scheduled BYU devotional held in the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah

• 6?? May - Received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Salt Lake Community College

• 18 May - Dedicated Historic Kirtland

• 15-Jun - Dedicated Brisbane Australia Temple

• 9-Sep - Installed Cecil O. Samuelson as the 12th president of Brigham Young University

• 14-Sep - Dedicated Redlands California Temple

2004

• 11-Jan - Dedicated Accra Ghana Temple

• 11-Jan - Met with Ghana president John Agyekum Kufuor following the dedication of the Accra Ghana Temple

• 22-Feb - Rededicated São Paulo Brazil Temple

• 6-Apr - President Hinckley's wife, Marjorie Pay Hinckley, passed away at age 92

• 23-May - Dedicated Copenhagen Denmark Temple

• 13-Jun - Dedicated Manhattan New York Temple

• 23-Jun - Was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in the White House

2005

• 12-Mar - The First Presidency observes ten years together

• 2-3 April - President Hinckley delivers a powerful message on gambling during the 175th Annual General Conference

• 22-May - President Hinckley dedicates the Church's 120th temple in San Antonio, Texas

• 23-Jun - President Hinckley celebrates his 95th birthday

• 22 July - Honored on his 95th birthday in a “Celebration of Life” at the Conference Center with guests performers and 21,000 guests

• 31 July - 9 August - Traveled nearly 25,000 miles on a seven-nation tour to Taiwan, Russia, South Korea, China, India, and Africa

• 7 August - Dedicated the Aba Nigeria Temple

• 28 August - Dedicated the Newport Beach California Temple

• 20 September - Dedicated the Joseph F. Smith Building on the BYU campus. It houses the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences and the College of Humanities.

• 8 October - The First Presidency broke ground for a state-of-the-art Church History Library across the street from Temple Square

• 23 December - Conducted and spoke at a Church wide meeting from the Joseph Smith birthplace in Sharon, Vermont. It culminated a year of activities celebrating the prophet’s 100th birthday

2006

• 11 March - Rededicated the Santiago Chile Temple

• 29 April - Announced the Cebu Philippines Temple

• 2 June - Announced the Vancouver British Columbia Temple in Canada

• 9 June - Announced the Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple

• 11 June - Spoke at a meeting honoring handcart pioneers of 150 years ago. It originated in Iowa City, Iowa and was broadcast over the Church satellite system

• 23 June - Broke ground, on his 96th birthday, for the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center on the BYU campus

• 5 August - Broke ground for the Draper Utah Temple

• 31 August - President George W. Bush visited the First Presidency

• 3 September - Dedicated the Sacramento California Temple

• 13 September - Dedicated new home for the 120-year-old LDS Business College at the Triad Center in Salt Lake City

• 22 October - Dedicated the Helsinki Finland Temple, 124th temple

• 16 December - Broke ground for the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple

• 16 December - Announced the Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple

• 31 December - Spoke to the youth in a New Years Eve meeting in the Conference Center

2007

• 31 March - Salt Lake Tabernacle opened after a two-year renovation and seismic upgrade

• 31 March - Saturday afternoon session of the 177th Annual General Conference is held in the newly renovated Tabernacle

• 31 March - Announced new Relief Society presidency, the world’s largest women’s organization

• 7 June - Announced the Manaus Brazil Temple

• 23 June - Dedicated the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center on the Brigham Young University campus on his 97th birthday

• 26 June - Announced Church membership has surpassed 13-million

• 26 June - Announced one-millionth missionary since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized in 1830

• 10 August - President James E. Faust, Second Counselor in the First Presidency passed away

• 12 September - Awarded the Municipal Citizen of the Century by the Utah League of Cities and towns

• 6 October - Announced Elder Henry B. Eyring as Second Counselor in the First Presidency and Elder Quentin L. Cook as new apostle

• 6-7 October - Conducted and spoke at the Church’s 177th Semi-Annual World General Conference

Provided by and used with permission from The Newsroom of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Copyright 2007 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

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