Prepared by Lori Stiles, Office of Public Information, University of Arizona, with updates by CJC. ---- 1983: Site testing begins on Mount Graham 1985: March -- Spin-casting of 1.8-meter primary mirror in Steward Observatory Mirror Lab; The Vatican Observatory and Steward Observatory agree to build a telescope with the 1.8-meter primary mirror 1986: September -- Incorporation of Vatican Observatory Foundation (nonprofit); November -- Design of telescope begins 1987: March -- First fundraising campaign begins 1988: July -- Contract for telescope mount with L?F Industries; November -- Arizona-Idaho Conservation Act authorizes construction on Mount Graham 1989: January -- Second fundraising campaign begins; February -- Design of astrophysics facility begins; May -- Contract for secondary mirror with Space Optics Research Labs. 1990: February -- Telescope mount delivered to test facility near Tucson; October -- Contract with T.L.Roof signed, and site clearing for facility building on Mount Graham begins 1991: June -- Weather-delayed start of concrete foundation work on Mount Graham; November -- Steward Observatory completes polishing of the primary mirror 1992: April -- Construction resumes on Mount Graham; May -- Polishing of secondary mirror completed; October -- Telescope mount and dome installed on Mount Graham 1993: February -- Substantial completion of facility building; March -- Installation of scientific equipment; September -- First light with primary mirror in place, and beginning of commissioning phase; September 18 -- VATT dedication 1994: July -- Second light with secondary mirror in place 1995: January -- Scientific observations begin 1999: March -- Kresge Science Initiative Grant work begins, with substantial completion a year later, bringing VATT close to planned optical and mechanical performance and reliability 2002: December -- Installation of [[http://skrutskie.uvacreate.virginia.edu/home.html|CorMASS]], a low resolution, near infrared, slit spectrograph 2003: September 18 -- Tenth Anniversary! See [[VATT:VOF-newsletter-2003F|Fall 2003 Newsletter]].