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Aristotle says people who are born deaf "become senseless and incapable of reason" *Note this is 355 BC, but this timeline software doesn't support BC. http://archives.gallaudet.edu/Timeline.htm
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Girolamo Cardano recognizes the ability of people with deafness to reason and argues for the importance of their education.
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Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc open what becomes the American School for the Deaf. It is here that American Sign Language is born.
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Louis Braille invents the Braille System, which consists of 6 dots raised on a page to allow reading with the fingertips. He publishes his first book in Braille in 1829.
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The American Civil war leads to tens of thousands of amputations.
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Helen Keller is born. At 19 months of age, she contracts an illness which leaves her deaf and blind. She becomes a famous advocate for people with disabilities.
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FDR contracts what is thought to be polio, becoming paralyzed from the waist down. He eventually goes on to become the 32nd President of the United States.
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Jonas Salk develops the polio vaccine, dramatically reducing the cases of polio worldwide, which are down to 1,652 as of 2007.
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Closed Captioning is used for the first time, allowing people with hearing disabilities to enjoy a television show.
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The Americans with Disabilities Act is passed, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability.
