The AIDS/HIV Timeline in Brief 

1959 Scientists isolate what is believed to be the earliest known case of AIDS

1978 Gay men in the U.S. begin showing signs of what will later be called AIDS

1981 The Centers for Disease Control reports that five homosexual men were treated for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia which was later determined to be AIDS related

1982 The term AIDS is coined The Gay Men's Health Crisis, GMHC, is established in New York City

1985 The FDA approves the first HIV-antibody test President Ronald Reagan mentions AIDS for the first time in a public speech

1986 Actor Rock Hudson dies from AIDS

1987 AZT becomes the first drug approved for the treatment of HIV. ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) is founded in New York City

1990 Ryan White dies at age eighteen from AIDS President Reagan apologizes for his neglect of the AIDS crisis during his presidency Fashion designer Halston dies from AIDS

1991 Basketball player Magic Johnson announces that he has HIV

1992 Actor Robert Reed from TV's The Brady Bunch dies from AIDS

1995 Olympic diver Greg Louganis reveals that he has AIDS

1996 The number of deaths from AIDS in the U.S. is nearly 35,000Time magazine announces researcher David Ho as Man of the Year

1997 AIDS- related deaths decline in the U.S. by more than 40 percent due largely to HAART (highly active anti-retroviral therapy)

2002 HIV is the leading cause of death worldwide, among those aged 15-59 The FDA approves the Oraquick, the first rapid HIV test

2006 There are over 1 million cases of HIV in the U.S., and one out of four individuals who are HIV + are not diagnosed The CDC announces its recommendation that all individuals who are sexually active should be screened for HIV

2007 New York State Board of Health publishes statistics indicating that HIV rates among MSM under age thirty have increased 33 percent Merck halts HIV vaccine trial after the study failed to show it reduced the risk of infection; the international trial was the latest in a long line of disappointments in HIV vaccines