1947
Sidney Farber, M.D., establishes the Children's Cancer Research Foundation, now Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, introducing the first research program in chemotherapy for children with cancer.

1948
The Variety Club of New England organizes a radio broadcast from the bedside of a young leukemia patient named "Jimmy" as he is visited by members of the Boston Braves baseball team, owned by Lou Perini. Contributions pour in to buy Jimmy a television set on which to watch the Braves, launching "the Jimmy Fund."

1949
The Jimmy Fund/Variety Club Theater Collections Program begins.

1951
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is incorporated in Commonwealth of Massachusetts as Children's Cancer Research Foundation, Inc.
Construction of the four-story Jimmy Fund Building is completed. In 1958, the building is expanded to eight floors to house research facilities and is renamed the Jimmy Fund Research Laboratories.

1953
The Boston Red Sox, thanks to team owners Tom and Jean Yawkey, designate the Jimmy Fund as the team's official charity when the Boston Braves move to Milwaukee.

1956
The Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association designates the Jimmy Fund as its official charity.

1957
Hollywood movie mogul Louis B. Mayer becomes a patient of Dr. Farber. Mayer later calls Dr. Farber "the single most important man I've ever met."

1962
The Charles A. Dana Foundation makes the first of several major grants to the Children's Cancer Research Foundation.

1966
Red Sox great, Ted Williams, who has identified the Jimmy Fund as his charity, is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, with major contributions made to the Jimmy Fund in his honor.

1967
The 1967 Red Sox "Impossible Dream Team" votes to give the Jimmy Fund a share of its winnings from the World Series.

1969
The Institute's charter is expanded to provide services for patients of all ages.

1970
Students from Harvard University's Eliot House help organize the first "Evening with Champions," an annual ice-skating exhibition featuring Olympic medal winners, to benefit the Jimmy Fund.

1973
Dana-Farber receives federal designation as a regional comprehensive cancer center.

Dr. Farber dies.

1974
The Children's Cancer Research Foundation is renamed the Sidney Farber Cancer Center in honor of its founder. Two years later, the name is again modified, becoming the Sidney Farber Cancer Institute.

1976
The all-volunteer Friends of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is established to raise funds through special events, provide services to Institute patients and sponsor public education programs.
Construction of the Charles A. Dana Building is completed.

1977
The first Jimmy Fund council of volunteers, the Jimmy Fund Council of Greater Boston, is founded.

1980
Institute President Baruj Benacerraf, M.D., receives the Nobel Prize for work that unveiled the genetic underpinnings of the human immune system.
The Pan-Massachusetts Challenge is founded. This two-day, 192-mile Sturbridge-to-Provincetown ride has grown into the Jimmy Fund's single largest fundraising event.

1982
The first "Flights of Fancy" gala is held by the Friends of Sidney Farber Cancer Institute.

1983
The Sidney Farber Cancer Institute is renamed Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in recognition of generous support from the Charles A. Dana Foundation. The new name honors industrialist Charles A. Dana, who shared Dr. Farber's conviction that there is "no such thing as a hopeless case."
The first annual Scooper Bowl ice cream extravaganza to benefit the Jimmy Fund is held on the Boston Common.
The Jimmy Fund Golf Program is officially organized.

1984
Several major annual Jimmy Fund events are initiated:
The Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association cross-state "Run for Jimmy;"
The Celebrity Cup ski weekend at Sugarloaf/USA in Maine;
The Jimmy Fund Radiothon, held in conjunction with the Red Sox, an all-day broadcast heard throughout New England.