About 20 years before Helen Keller’s education, Laura Bridgman became first deaf-blind American to gain a significant education in the English language. The two were connected through Bridgman's friend Anne Sullivan who became Helen Keller's teacher and aide. Born in New Hampshire on Dec. 21, 1829, Bridgman lost her sight and hearing at two years of age to scarlet fever. She had limited communication skills until the director of the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown,

It was on this day (May 23) in 1862 that William Ellsworth Hoy was born. Known professionally as "Dummy" Hoy, he played in the major leagues for seven seasons, mostly for the Cincinnati Reds. Born on May 23, 1862, in Houcktown, Ohio, near Toledo. Hoy lost his hearing at the age of three due to meningitis. He graduated from the Ohio State School for the Deaf as class valedictorian in 1879. The school honored him with a plaque in March of 2023. WXYX-TV has a report on it here.