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AIDS
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| c. 1930 | AIDS spreads from chimpanzee to human. |
| 1959 | A man in the Congo dies of AIDS, the first proven and documented case. |
| 1969 | First known case of AIDS in the United States, a black teenage hustler in Missouri with Kaposi's Sarcoma and HIV. |
| early 1980 | So-called Patient Zero, Air Canada flight attendant Gaetan Dugas, diagnosed with AIDS. His reputation is such that he infected dozens and likely hundreds of gay men in anonymous bathhouse sex (estimate 250 partners per year), fostering rapid propagation of the virus among the gay community. However, there is great dispute as to the amount of responsibility which must be assigned to Dugas. In reality the "Patient Zero" moniker should apply only in reference to the studies of Dr. Alvin Friedman-Kien, the doctor who linked Kaposi's Sarcoma with homosexuality, in which Dugas played a key role. |
| 1980 | 31 deaths from HIV infection in the United States. |
| 1982 | Jerry Falwell: "AIDS is God's judgment of a society that does not live by His rules." |
| 30 Mar 1984 | Gaetan Dugas ("Patient Zero") dies of AIDS. |
| 1985 | Poll shows that 51% of Americans favor quarantine of those with AIDS. |
| 25 Jul 1985 | A gaunt Rock Hudson announces he has AIDS. |
| 2 Oct 1985 | Actor Rock Hudson dies of AIDS. |
| 1986 | "Everyone detected with AIDS should be tattooed in the upper forearm, to protect common needle users, and on the buttocks to protect the victimization of other homosexuals." William F. Buckley, New York Times. |
| 4 Feb 1987 | Pianist Liberace dies of AIDS. |
| May 1987 | According to his authorized biography (published in 2000), President Ronald Reagan wonders aloud about the AIDS pandemic: "Maybe the Lord brought down this plague... [because] illicit sex is against the Ten Commandments." [Dutch, p. 458] |
| 13 Mar 1988 | Well-endowed pornstar John Holmes dies of AIDS. |
| 20 Jun 1990 | On his television show The 700 Club, Pat Robertson declares: "Many observers say that AIDS is the hammer and gun of the homosexual movement, an effective vehicle to propel the homosexual agenda throughout every phase of our society." |
| Nov 1991 | Magic Johnson announces he is HIV positive. |
| 24 Nov 1991 | Freddy Mercury dies of AIDS, London. |
| 1993 | Jerry Falwell declares: "AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals." |
| 6 Jan 1993 | Ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev dies of AIDS, Paris. |
| 6 Feb 1993 | Tennis player Arthur Ashe dies of AIDS, New York City. |
| 11 Nov 1994 | Pedro Zamora, the HIV-positive gay guy on the San Francisco season of MTV's Real World, dies of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy at age 22. |
| 18 Jan 1995 | On his television show The 700 Club, Pat Robertson declares: "[Homosexuals] want to come into churches and disrupt church services and throw blood all around and try to give people AIDS and spit in the face of ministers." |
| 2002 | Kami, the first HIV positive Muppet, appears on Sesame Street in South Africa. The aidsy muppet is designed to promote education about HIV/AIDS. |
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