disability-history-timeline-2013

1971Ed Roberts and hisassociates establish the firstCentre for IndependentLiving (CIL) in Berkeley,California for the communityat large. CILs are grassrootsorganisations run and controlled bydisabled people. They aim to assist disabledpeople take control over their lives andachieve full participation in society.The centre initially occupies a cockroachinfestedtwo-bedroom apartment until theRehabilitation Administration gives thema $50,000 grant in 1972.1972Paul Hunt (1937-1979),a resident in the LeCourt institution inHampshire, writes aletter to The Guardiannewspaper callingfor ‘the formation ofa consumer group to put forward theviews of actual and potential residents’of residential institutions, which he called‘the successors to the workhouse’.3500 BCEThe Rig-Veda, an ancient sacredpoem of India, is said to be the firstwritten record of a prosthesis. Awarrior, Queen Vishpla, who losesher leg in battle, is fitted with an ironprosthesis and returns to the fight.