-
Juan Pablo Bonet creates the first well-known book of alphabetical signs for ASL
-
Laurent Clerc was born hearing, but at the age of one he fell into a fire and lost his hearing. He attended a deaf school in France when he was 12, and was such an outstanding student that the school asked him to teach. As a teacher, he met Thomas Gallaudet, who was searching for information about deaf schools in France. Thomas asked Clerc to come back to America with him and start the first deaf school in the country, thus creating the American School for the Deaf and Dumb
-
Laurent Clerc was the co-founder of the Hartford Asylum for the Education and Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and earned the nickname "The Apostle of the Deaf in America" for his many contributions for the early deaf community. The school has since been renamed to the American School for the Deaf, but is the oldest deaf school in North America. Gallaudet University honors him by awarding deaf students who do outstanding work for their community the "Laurent Clerc Award".
-
Originally founded under the name "American Asylum for the Education of Deaf and Dumb Persons", but now known as the American School for the Deaf was the first deaf school funded by the government. Since opening in 1817, 6000 students have graduated from the school located West Hartford, Connecticut.
-
In this time period, over 30 major schools in the US opened for the deaf. People considered this the "golden age" because people started to recognize the hardships deaf people went through and started to understand deaf culture a little bit more.
-
In 1901, the first American League grand-slam-home-run was hit by William "Dummy" Hoy, a deaf baseball player. Also, Gallaudet's football team huddled while giving their signs so teams couldn't steal them, and soon other teams are doing it too, and it becomes a football tradition.
-
The first electric hearing aid was invented, while most weighed over 3 pound, it was a good first step for technology and sciences for the deaf.
-
Deaf people were not allowed to serve in the US military, thus opening up many job opportunities for the community.
-
Marlee Martin becomes the first deaf actress to win an Oscar, starring in the movie "Children of a Lesser God". She also competes in Dancing With The Stars in 2008
-
In 2013, the show "Switched at Birth" was the first national televison show to use only ASL.
