ASL Important Dates

By ChaseStockwell
  • 322 BCE

    ancient greeks

    ancient greeks
    322 388 B.C. Ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, pronounced that Deaf people could not be educated without hearing stating "it is impossible to reason without the ability to hear" and "Those who are born deaf all become senseless and incapable of reason".
    427-347 B.C.: Ancient Greek philosopher Plato believes in his book Plato's Cratylus that all people were born with innate intelligence and it must be nurtured or developed. Without speech, deaf people had primitive thoughts.
  • 345

    Christans view being deaf as a sin

    Christans view being deaf as a sin
    Between 345 and 550 being deaf is considered a sin by Christians.
  • 1500

    Geronimo Cardano teaches his son to speak using symbols

    Geronimo Cardano teaches his son to speak using symbols
    Geronimo Cardano of Padua attempts to teach his deaf son using a code of symbols.

  • Juan Pablo

    Juan Pablo
    Juan Pablo Bonet writes the first well-known book of manual alphabetic signs for the deaf.

  • French sign language dictionary

    French sign language dictionary
    Charles Michel De L’Eppe publishes a dictionary of French sign language.

  • First deaf school was founded

    First deaf school was founded
    In 1817 Gallaudet was founded

  • Baseball Hand Signals

    Baseball Hand Signals
    William "Dummy" Hoy , the first deaf Major League baseball player, was the reason umpires adopted the hand signals "out", "safe", and "strike".

  • The Football Huddle

    The Football Huddle
    The Gallaudet University football team invented the football huddle to keep the opponents from eavesdropping on the quarterback in American Sign Language.

  • Vacuum tube hearing aid

    Vacuum tube hearing aid
    Earl C. Hanson patents the first vacuum-tube hearing aid.

  • Committee of silent sports

    Committee of silent sports
    The International Committee of Silent Sports (CISS) iss founded on August 16 by E.