timeline

General Conferences for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have had a varied history from humble beginnings in 1830 in Fayette, New York. In 1840, the only General Conference ever to be held outside of the United States was convened in Preston, England. The first woman to speak in conference was Lucy Mack Smith, mother of the Prophet Joseph Smith, in 1845. Between 1885 and 1887 conferences were held outside Salt Lake City including Provo in 1886 and 1887 because of safety concerns. U.S. marshals had beguin arresting people for polygamy. The April 1919 General Conference was postponed until June because of the 1918-1919 influenza outbreak. More recently, the first virtual conferences have been held because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Timeline Compiled by Marina McNairy and Emma Keddington.

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President Cecil O. Samuelson has served as president of BYU for nearly 11 years — the fourth longest tenure in BYU presidential history. As students and faculty prepare to bid farewell to President Samuelson, we take a look back and what led him to BYU in the first place.