‘CODA’ Star Troy Kotsur won the best supporting trophy at the Film Independent Spirit Award on March 6, 2022. Image: Variety That makes him the first deaf actor to win the award. Kotsur plays deaf fisherman Frank Rossi in the film CODA.  In accepting the honor, Kotsur thanked the film’s producers and applauded them for their vision. He went on to thank his wife and daughter. Backstage he said: “You know how long it took me to get here? And it takes doctors a long time to get

It was on this date (March 4, 2013) an episode of Switched at Birth  was aired that made history. The dialogue of the entire show was in ASL. Producers of the ABC Family program (now known as Freeform ) say this was the first time a scripted series on mainstream television used only American Sign Language.

On this date (March 3, 1887) Anne Sullivan arrived at the Keller's home in Alabama to work with their deaf and blind daughter, Helen. Through their work together, Helen Keller would go on to become one of the most influential people in history. Below is a video about Helen Keller from Biography.com or you can read the material here .

Luther "Dummy" Taylor was born on this day (Feb. 21) in 1875. Luther Taylor, known as Dummy Taylor, played for the San Francisco Giants when they were in upper Manhattan, and later for the Cleveland Bronchos a in the early 1900s. Taylor was an important pitchers on the Giants' championship teams of 1904 and 1905. He not only "bridged a gap between hearing and nonbearing athletes," he "remains a unique link between Kansas City and the Giants." Read more in the New York Times

Hilbok was Gallaudet University's student body president during the 1988 Deaf President Now protest. image from gallaudet.edu Profoundly deaf since birth, Hilbok was the first deaf law student at Hofstra University. He oversaw the FCC's Disability Rights Office from 2010 to 2016 and now serves on the Gallaudet University Board of Trustees.  Hilbok is  currently Chief Legal Officer for video relay service providers ZVRS and Purple Communications. Read more here .

It was on this day in 2001 (Feb 1), Joseph Mesa, Jr. murdered Benjamin Varner in his Gallaudet dorm room. Mesa stabbed his classmate more than a dozen times. This wasn't Mesa's first fatal attack. A few months earlier, Mesa beat Eric Plunkett to death in his dorm room as well, leaving the school's campus shaken. Mesa turned himself in to the police ten days after the Varner killing. In July of 2002, a DC judge gave Mesa six life terms without the possibility of parole. Prosec

A deaf bank customer helped stop a bank robbery on this day (Jan 30) in 2003. A bank teller in Rochester, New York, tipped off the man as he was going through the drive-through. The robber had entered a branch of HSBC, yelled that he was robbing it, then jumped on a counter and pistol-whipped a teller. Another teller at the drive-up window just happened to be helping a deaf customer at that moment. She mouthed the words "we are being robbed." The lip-reading customer then dro

It was on this day (Jan. 28, 2021) that the film CODA had its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. In the movie CODA, Emilia Jones plays the only hearing member of a deaf family. She has to decide whether to leave and pursue her music dreams or stay at home to help her parents. The story is based on the French film La famille belier. The costumes for the actors, including Academy Award winner Marlee Matlin, come from the imagination of veteran designer Brenda Abbanda

Downs, one of the most responsible people for newborn hearing screening in the U.S., was born this day (Jan. 26) in 1914. Audiologist Marion Downs published two books and over 100 articles on the topic during her lifetime. The Marion Downs Hearing Center is located at the University of Colorado Medical Center. WVXU radio in Cincinnati has more on this remarkable woman here . She was 100 years old when she died on Nov. 13, 2014. Read more about her here .

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

Grace Anna Goodhue was born on January 3, 1879, in Burlington, Vermont. She is known to history as the wife of the 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge. What many people don't know is that she was a teacher of the deaf. As the first lady, she worked hard to educate the public and invited Helen Keller to visit the White House. Helped by the President, Mrs. Collidge raised $2 million for the Clarke School for the Deaf. Read more about her life here .

Ian Berry became the first deaf man to walk to the South Pole on this day (Dec. 31, 2009). The UK native dragged a sled across 112 miles of ice to raise more than $40,000 for the National Deaf Children's Society. The 43-year-old reached the pole on New Year's Eve as part of a five-person team.

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. B orn 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,

Best known for a TV show about her work for the FBI, Sue Thomas passed away on Dec. 13, 2022. Sue Thomas speaking in 2011 Sue Thomas became nationally known through a TV series based on her life called Sue Thomas FBEye . She went on to become an author and motivational speaker. Early Life: Thomas was born in Ohio on May 24, 1950 and became deaf at 18 months of age. At the age of seven, she became the youngest free-style ice skater in Ohio state history. Health: In 2001, she w

Annie Jump Cannon was born Dec. 11, 1863. The deaf astronomer was also a suffragist. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper via Wikimedia Commons Cannon lost most of her hearing in childhood, which has been attributed to scarlet fever. The valedictorian of her class at Wellesley College, she became an astronomer at the Harvard College Observatory. She worked with another prominent deaf astronomer: Henrietta Swan Leavitt. Despite getting paid at half the rate paid to m

Thomas Gallaudet was born on this day (Dec. 10) in 1787. Birthplace - Philadelphia Family - Oldest of 12 children College - Attended Yale at age 14, graduating with highest honors at 17 Ministry - Ordained in 1814, sometimes preaching at church Deaf Interest - Became interested in deaf issues when he met a 9-year-old deaf neighbor School - Founded The American School for the Deaf   in Hartford, Connecticut which opened its doors in 1817 Travels - Learned the manual form of si

During Nelson Mandela’s memorial service in Johannesburg on this date (Dec. 10) in 2013, a man pretending to interpret for the dignitaries that spoke was declared a fraud by South Africa's deaf federation. image from Sky News video U.S. President Barack Obama was among the heads of state attending the service at the 95,000-seat football stadium when Thamsanqa Jantjie took to the stage. The incident raised security concerns and is an embarrassment for the South African governm

It was on this date (Dec. 7, 2012) that Dr. William F. House died in Oregon at the age of 89. image from House Ear Institute Dr. House is credited with installing the first cochlear implant in 1961. He was told by experts the electric current he was using would destroy the ear, but that didn't stop him. He believed in what implants could do to change someone's life. Here's a little about him: Known as the "father of neurotology." He received his do

It was on this day (Dec. 6) in 1976 that professional stuntwoman Kitty O'Neil set a record for land speed by a female driver. It was in Oregon's Alvord Desert that Kitty hit 512 miles per hour. Her women's absolute land speed record stood until 2019. The previous record had been 321 mph. Childhood diseases left her deaf and nearly killed her. She became a champion diver at a young age. As a teenager, she planned to take part in the 1964 Olympics but an injury and illness cut