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Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet opens the first school for the deaf
He opened this school after one of his children was born deaf. He then opened the school learning the best methods of teaching to people with hearing disabilities.The school is located in Hartford, Connecticut. This also helped pave the way to provide education to those who are deaf and hard of hearing. -
William "Dummy" Hoy was born
He was the first deaf baseball superstar. He was known for his hand signals that he used on the field in order to understand plays. -
Gallaudet University was established
Gallaudet University was the first university for the deaf and hard of hearing in the world. It is located in Washington D.C. -
NAD was founded
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is an organization that promotes the rights of deaf people in the US -
The Football Huddle was invented
The football huddle was invented by Paul Hubbard. It was used to prevent other teams from seeing what they were signing to each other. -
Helen Keller, the first deaf-blind person to graduate college
Helen Keller is one of the most recognizable names when learning about ASL even though she actual never had used sign language. She also published many books and was a found great success in lecturing. -
The first ASL dictionary is published
William Stokoe along with his two Deaf colleagues at Gallaudet, Carl Croneberg and Dorothy Caterline, create the first ASL dictionary. -
Marlee Matlin recieves an Academy Award and Golden Globe
Marlee Matlin was a deaf actress that recieved these two awards for her lead role in the movie, "Children of a Lesser God". At this point, she is the first and only deaf person to win these awards at this time. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
This came into law in 1990, making it illegal to discrimate against those with disability. -
21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act
This mandated that all televised material be captioned, including its online distribution.