According to WebMD:
- 1981
- The first recognized cases of AIDS was reported in five gay men in Los Angeles
- 1982
- The syndrome is first called AIDS
- The earliest AIDS advocacy organizations formed by gay men
- 1983
- It is realized that AIDS can be spread by heterosexual sex and from mother to child as will as by homosexual sex
- Pasteur Institute researchers and a UCSF researcher independently isolate HIV
- 1965
- The virus is named HIV
- First HIV tests are created
- Blood banks screen their donations
- First international AIDS conference
- 1987
- The United States does not allow anyone with HIV to immigrate into the country
- 1988
- The first World AIDS Day (December 1st)
- 1989
- It is discovered that HIV is rampant in the body long before AIDS symptoms appear
- 1991
- The red ribbon is used as a symbol
- AIDS becomes the leading cause of death in middle aged men in the United States
- First rapid HIV test
- 1993
- Condom ads appear on the television and elsewhere
- 1996
- Highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) is introduced
- AIDS related deaths decline by forty percent in the United States
- 2001
- AIDS becomes the leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 59 worldwide
- 2006
- Vaccine trials continue to fail
- UNAIDS recommends adult circumcision
- 2008
- Infection rates skyrocket in the male homosexual community
- Global AIDS deaths decline for the first time
- 2009
- Public concern declines
- 2010
- Obama reverses the decision not to allow those infected with HIV to immigrate to the U.S.
