1830—First general conference of the church held in Fayette, New York. All 27 members attend. A second general conference is held in September, also in Fayette.
1848—The Saints hold their first general conference in October, following their arrival in the Salt Lake Valley. General conference and other meetings are held in the Bowery.
1863—Construction begins on the Tabernacle
1875—The Tabernacle is dedicated during October conference
1885—April and October conferences held in Logan, Utah, due to safety concerns.
1886—April conference convened in Provo, Utah, while October conference was held in Coalville, Utah
April 1887—Conference again held in Provo, but the Church meets again in Salt Lake City for October conference
1919—April general conference postponed until June because of a flu epidemic
1923—First radio broadcast of a conference session. The entire two days of conference proceedings were broadcast in the following conference. Radio broadcasting was very successful, except for during one October general conference session, when the radio signals were temporarily switched and conference listeners received seven minutes of play-by-play account of a World Series baseball game.
1949—First televised broadcast of general conference
1957—October conference is cancelled, due to the Asian flu epidemic
1977—In preparation for April conference, the First Presidency announces the implementation of a two-day conference schedule, where conferences occur on the first Saturday and Sunday of the months of April and October. Prior conferences lasted three days and always included April 6, regardless of whether the it fell midweek.
1999—The first live audio and video broadcasts of conference available on the Internet
2000—Conference Center dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley during October conference, as “a place to be used in honor to the Almighty and for the accomplishment of His eternal purposes”
2005—General conference proceedings are broadcast via radio, television and Internet in fifty-five different languages
Copyright Brigham Young University 3 Apr 2005
