A driving force in the Deaf community died on this date (Jan. 20) in 2008. James LeVoy Sorenson passed away at a Salt Lake City hospital at the age of 86. Utah's richest man was estimated to be worth $4.5 billion by Forbes magazine. Perhaps best known for co-developing the first real-time computerized heart monitor and for founding Sorenson Communications, he donated more than $5 million to Gallaudet University. Read more about his life here.

A 16th century Spanish monk is recognized by most historians as the first teacher of deaf children. Pedro Ponce de Leon lived from 1520 to 1584. However, some point to Spanish painter Juan Fernández Navarrete as the first. He lived in the early part of the century. Ponce de Leon was a Benedictine monk who took a vow of silence and developed a form of sign language to communicate. He apparently taught finger-spelling to deaf children who probably arrived at his monastery alrea