This is a Timeline of Scientology and its forerunner Dianetics, particularly its foundation and development by author L. Ron Hubbard as well as general publications, articles, books and other milestones.
August: Hubbard held a failed demonstration to a Los Angeles audience where he unsuccessfully presented a young woman[a][6] as the world's first Dianetics Clear.[7]: 165–6 [8]: 114-5
October: Medical doctor and Dianetics enthusiast Joseph A. Winter resigns from HDRF over the issue of past lives.[3]: 217
February: After learning that the Hubbard Dianetic Foundation of Wichita, Kansas would be liable for the debts of the defunct Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation of Elizabeth, New Jersey, the board of directors, led by Don Purcell, voted to file for voluntary bankruptcy over Hubbard's objections. Hubbard forms a rival Hubbard College, also in Wichita, and disputes control of the copyrights of the Dianetics materials.[7]: 199–200
May: Hubbard publicly announces the formal establishment of the philosophy of Scientology and the formation of the Hubbard Association of Scientologists, demonstrates the E-meter, and moves to Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix is considered the "birthplace of Scientology."[9][4]: XI
September: Early Dianetics supporter Joseph Winter M.D. breaks with Hubbard, convinced "that it is dangerous for laymen to try to audit each other".[10]
1953
Church of Scientology, Church of American Science and Church of Spiritual Engineering incorporated in Elizabeth, New Jersey by L. Ron Hubbard. Co-signatories were Henrietta Hubbard, L. Ron Hubbard Jr., John Galusha, Verna Greenough and Barbara Bryan. Named as trustees of the Church of Scientology were L. Ron Hubbard, Mary Sue Hubbard (not present), and John Galusha.[11]
1954
February 18: First incorporation of a Church of Scientology in California (changes its name in 1956 to Church of Scientology of California).[3]: 218
December 24: Hubbard announced Scientology is a religion.[3]: 218
January 4: The US Food and Drug Administration raided the Founding Church of Scientology and seized approximately 100 of the Church's E-meters as illegal medical devices. The devices are now required to carry a disclaimer saying that they are a purely religious artifact. They are used in a Scientology counseling technique known as "auditing".[17][16]: 658
1965
The Church of Scientology was banned in several Australian states, starting with Victoria.[18] The ban was based on the Anderson Report, which found that the auditing process involved "command" hypnosis, in which the hypnotist assumes "positive authoritative control" over the patient."[19]
Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart released in East Grinstead, United Kingdom [4]: XII
John McMaster announced as first true clear.[4]: XII [21][22]
1967
The IRS strips the Church of Scientology in California, Scientology's headquarters, of its tax-exempt status, asserting that its activities are commercial and operated for the benefit of Mr. Hubbard, rather than charitable or religious reasons.[14]
OT III is made available to Scientologists. This level of Operating Thetan contains the story of Xenu, which becomes a source of enormous controversy for Scientology from the 1990s onward.[4]: XIII
The Sea Organization (or Sea Org) officially established.[23][16]: 658
1968
January 1: The first Advanced Organization, offering the advanced levels of Scientology to the public, was established aboard the Royal Scotman, the flagship of the Sea Organization. (This ship was later renamed the Apollo.)[8]: 177–8
Introduction to Scientology Ethics is published.[24]
August 1968 – Freedom Magazine Founded by Church of Scientology.[4]: XIII
FDA wins decision ordering destruction of E-meters seized in 1963.[25]: 64 The U.S. court of appeals reversed on appeal recognizing e-meters as a "religious artefact" as long as they're labelled as ineffective in treating illness.[25]: 64 [26]
Relocated Flag management from sea to Clearwater.[16]: 659
Scientology is recognized as a non-profit organization in South Africa, despite the 1972 report of a formal government Commission of Inquiry that recommended otherwise.[28]
As a result of FBI raids, eleven senior people in the church's Guardian's Office were convicted of obstructing justice, burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property. (See Operation Snow White)[29]
December: An estimated 3,000 gather at Clearwater City Hall to protest the church coming to Clearwater. Across the street, Scientologists stage a counter rally, dressed as clowns and wearing animal costumes.[30]
The High Court of Australia overturns the Scientology ban, declaring that "The applicant has easily discharged the onus of showing that it is religious. The conclusion that it is a religious institution entitled to the tax exemption is irresistible."[35]
After the completion of a 4-year long program to reissue the books and courses of Dianetics and Scientology, a general amnesty is declared for members.[citation needed]
June: The Church of Scientology is found guilty on two counts of breach of the public trust in Ontario, Canada in R. v. Church of Scientology of Toronto and fined $250,000. Seven members are also convicted.[40]
1993
December: The Internal Revenue Service of the United States grants full religious recognition and tax exemption to all Scientology Churches, missions and social betterment groups in that country.[14][41]
The Church releases the Golden Age of Tech program with the express goal of improving and speeding up the training of its practitioners.
On 21 November 1996, Don Jason, a Scientology Chief Officer with prior authority over hundreds of staff in Clearwater, Florida, escaped from the Scientology church by jumping off their 440-foot-long ship named Freewinds that was docked at the time in the Bahamas. As he had escaped the church (Scientology vernacular: "blown") earlier that year in August, he was barred from leaving Freewinds, his passport confiscated. Running from the ship, he jumped into a waiting taxicab, closing the door on a Scientology guard's hand, and screamed to the driver: "I'm being held against my will! Take me to a g-- d---airport!"[45]
1997
February: McPherson's family files a wrongful-death lawsuit against the church.[46]
The Church of Scientology, operating as the Greek Center of Applied Philosophy, is ordered closed in Greece. Decision upheld in 1998.[47]
1998
November: After reviewing the McPherson case for 11 months, State Attorney Bernie McCabe charges the Church of Scientology with two felonies: practicing medicine without a license and abuse of a disabled adult. Also, the church begins construction of the Flag Building, launching a $160-million construction project in downtown Clearwater, Florida.[48]
1999
The Charity Commission for England and Wales denies the Church of Scientology's application for charitable status, ruling that it is not a religion and that there is no established "public benefit arising out of the practice of Scientology".[49][50][51] The Church does not appeal the decision.[50]
November: The government of Sweden declares that the Church of Scientology is a charitable, non-profit organization with a religious purpose.[14] A year later, the Church's ministers are granted the right to perform marriages, completing official recognition as a church in Sweden.[14]
Bob Minton, a banker critical of Scientology, starts a protest organization called the Lisa McPherson Trust. The organization picketed Scientology buildings on the anniversary of McPherson's death. The group was disbanded in November 2001.[52]
2000s
2000
March: The Italian Supreme Court upholds Scientology's religious status in Italy while reaffirming that Narconon is a non-tax-exempt for-profit business.[53]
Scientology ministers are granted the right to perform marriages in South Africa.[54]
In the United Kingdom, the Church of Scientology is exempted from value added tax on the basis that it is a not-for-profit body.[49]
June: McCabe drops the criminal case against the church, noting that the medical examiner's change of opinion about the cause of McPherson's death undercuts the prosecution's effort to prove the criminal case beyond a reasonable doubt.[55]
2002
The government of New Zealand issues an official decree fully recognizing the Church of Scientology of New Zealand as an exempt religious and charitable organization.[14][56]
The Austrian tax office concludes that the work of the Church of Scientology in Vienna is for the public benefit rather than anyone's personal profit, and grants that church tax-exempt status as a charitable religious organization.[14][57]
July: A Paris judge rules that a 13-year-old case against the Church of Scientology alleging fraud and illegal practice of medicine cannot go to trial, due to lack of progress in the investigation.[58] The judge rules that the statute of limitations has expired.[58]
2003
March: The National Ministry of the Interior for Taiwan recognizes the Church of Scientology of Taiwan as a charitable religious institution, officially adding it to the rolls of the country's recognized religions.[14]
2004
May: The church and the estate of Lisa McPherson reach a private settlement.[59]
2005
The U.S. Department of State's 2005 Report on International Religious Freedom announces that the Church of Scientology has been registered as a religious group by the Kyrgyzstan State Commission on Religious Affairs.[60]
David Miscavige announces the Golden Age of Knowledge, a Church program intended to make all Scientology materials available. It starts with the release of 18 congresses.[61]
2006
Scientology applies for status as a religious confessional community in Austria, but later withdraws its application.[62]
2007
In the next major step of the Golden Age of Knowledge program, 18 revised books and 11 lecture series are released.[63]
April: the European Court of Human Rightsrules against Russia for repeatedly refusing to consider the Moscow Church of Scientology's application for the status of a legally valid religious association. The court finds that the reasons given to deny re-registration of the church by the justice department and endorsed by the Moscow courts have no legal basis.[64][65]
A Belgian state prosecutor recommends that a case should be brought against 12 physical persons associated with Scientology and two legal entities – the Belgian Church of Scientology and Scientology's Office of Human Rights – on counts of extortion, fraud, organized crime, obstruction of medical practice, illegal medical practice, invasion of privacy, conspiracy and commercial infractions like abusive contractual clauses.[66][67] The proposal is referred to an administrative court who is to decide at a later date whether charges will be brought.[66][67]
October 31: Scientology is formally recognized as a religion in Spain[68][69]
November: Scientology is officially recognized as a religion in Portugal.[70]
December 3: South Africa grants the Church tax exemption and issues a certificate recognizing it as a "Public Benefit Organisation".[71]
December 7: German federal and state interior ministers formally express the view that the Scientology organization continues to pursue anti-constitutional goals and ask Germany's domestic intelligence agencies to collect and evaluate the necessary information that would be required for a possible judicial inquiry aimed at banning the organization.[72][73] The move is criticized by politicians from all parts of the political spectrum, with legal experts expressing concern that an attempt to ban the organization would most likely fail in the courts.[72][74] This view is echoed by the German intelligence agencies, who warn that a ban would be doomed to fail.[75]
March: Mike Rinder, former senior executive, escapes Scientology.[76]
January 15: "Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography" by Andrew Morton is released.[78]
June 4: Mark Bunker, American politician, broadcast journalist, videographer and documentary filmmaker, conducts and uploads an interview with Actor Jason Beghe who defected the Church in 2007.
Internet-based group Anonymous launches Project Chanology, a worldwide protest against the Church of Scientology, which drew about 7,000 people in more than 93 cities on February 10, 2008.[79]
November: Germany drops its attempt to ban Scientology, after finding insufficient evidence of illegal or unconstitutional activity.[80] However, monitoring of Scientology's activities by the German intelligence services continues.[80]
2009
June 21: The Tampa Bay Times publishes the first article of The Truth Rundown with multiple parts including alleged physical abuse, verbal abuse, imprisonment and torture by the leader David Miscavige and details on the Lisa McPherson Case.[81]
October 26: Paul Haggis goes public with resigning from the Church of Scientology primarily over the policy of disconnection and Scientologys views on homosexuality based on their policies.[82] In 1950 Hubbard published Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, introducing his "science of the mind," Dianetics. He classified homosexuality as an illness or sexual perversion, citing contemporary psychiatric and psychological textbooks to support his view: "The sexual pervert (and by this term Dianetics, to be brief, includes any and all forms of deviation in Dynamic II [i.e. sexuality] such as homosexuality, lesbianism, sexual sadism, etc., and all down the catalog of Ellis and Krafft-Ebing) is actually quite ill physically...he is very far from culpable for his condition, but he is also far from normal and extremely dangerous to society..."[83] Hubbard further defined perversion in his 1951 book Science of Survival: Prediction of Human Behavior, where he introduced the concept of the "tone scale", a means of classifying individuals and human behavior on a chart running from +40 (the most beneficial) to −40 (the least beneficial).
October 27: Scientologists convicted of fraud in France.[84]
September: Tony Ortega, Blogger, Journalist & Author, launches freelance blog entitled "The Underground Bunker" that is focused solely on Scientology, after reporting on the Church since 1995.
Scientology Ideal Org in Kaohsiung, Taiwan opens.[90]
Flag Building unveiled in Clearwater, Florida after 15 years of construction.[91]
Scientology released its largest training program – The Golden Age of Tech Phase II.[92]
UK recognizes Scientology as a religion and allows Scientology wedding.[93]
Leah Remini goes public with leaving the Church of Scientology.[94]
2014
November 13: Upload Video "Scientologists celebrity centre gala 2005" on YouTube. In the video Giovanni Ribisi states (at 2:08) that Scientology is a "pragmatic religion" and members can have any religious denomination. This statement contradicts the required criteria that Scientology confirmed to the IRS US, that Scientology was in fact its own religion and solely based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard.
August 8: Joe Rogan Experience #835 uploads podcast episode with Louis Theroux in which his documentary on Scientology is explained.
November 29: "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath" a documentary series about the Church of Scientology explained through personal experiences of various defectors, journalist and others, is released via A&E.[102] A statement regarding the docuseries by the Church of Scientology was published on their Website, scientologynews.org, on November 26, 2016.[103]
March 12: The Scientology Network is launched and made available on Apple TV, Amazon's Fire TV, Roku and Google Chromecast.[106]
2019
February 11: "Where is the missing wife of Scientology's ruthless leader?" documentary by 60 Minutes Australia is released[88]
April 3: A convicted murderer named Kenneth Wayne Thompson blames upbringing as a Scientologist as reason for murders.[107]
2020s
2020
April: The Church of Scientology announced an online prevention center in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[108]
2021
August 17: Laura Prepon has not practiced Scientology since 2016.[109]
2022
October 11: Danny Masterson's criminal trial for the alleged sexual assault against three women started. Before and during the trial many possible aspects of the involvement of the Church of Scientology were discussed in and out of court.[110]
^Hubbard, La Fayette Ron (1950). Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Church of Scientology of California, Publications Organization. pp. 122–123. ISBN0-88404-000-3.
