© 2003-2018 gts-today all rights reserved
Thanks goes to Nancy O. of Virginia for assembling
and distributing this list. Dates are listed by
the DAY of each MONTH
1946: The A.A. Grapevine increased the cost of a year's subscription to $2.50.
1889: Bridget Della Mary Gavin (Sister Ignatia) was born in Ireland.
1939: First sale of Works Publishing Co. stock was recorded.
1939: Dr. Bob stated in a letter to Ruth Hock that A.A. had to get away from the Oxford Group atmosphere.
1941: Bill and Lois visited Bedford Hills again.
2000: Stephen Poe, compiler of the Concordance to Alcoholics Anonymous, died.
1984: "Pass it On" was published on this date.
1938: New York A.A. split from the Oxford Group.
1943: Press reported the first A.A. group in Pontiac, Michigan.
1988: Jack Norris, M.D., Chairman/Trustees of A.A. for 27 yrs. died.
1941: A.A. Bulletin No. 2 reported St. Louis group had ten members.
1919: 18th amendment, "Prohibition," became law.
1954: Hank Parkhurst, author of "The Unbeliever" in the first edition of the Big Book, died in Pennington, NJ.
1951: A.A. Grapevine published memorial issue on Dr. Bob.
1961: Bill W. sent an appreciation letter, which he considered long-overdue, to Dr. Carl Jung for his contribution to A.A.
1918: Bill Wilson and Lois Burnham were married, days before he was sent to Europe in WW I.
1915: Dr. Bob Smith married Anne Ripley.
1971: New York Times published Bill Wilson's obituary on page 1.
1971: The Washington Post published an obituary of Bill Wilson written by Donald Graham, son of the owner of the Washington Post.
1961: Dr. Carl Jung answers Bill's letter with "Spiritus Contra Spiritum."
1948: "Columbus Dispatch" reported first anniversary of Central Ohio A.A. Group.
1948: First A.A. meeting was held in Japan, English speaking.
1988: West Virginia A.A. began first statewide toll-free telephone hotline.
January 2:
2003: Mid-Southern California Archives moved to new location in Riverside.
January 3:
1941: Jack Alexander told Bill Wilson the Oxford Group would be in his Saturday Evening Post article on A.A.
January 4:
1940: First A.A. group was founded in Detroit, Michigan.
1941: Bill and Lois Wilson drove to Bedford Hills, NY, to see Stepping Stones and broke in through an unlocked window.
January 5:
1941: Bill Wilson told Jack Alexander that Jack was "the toast of A. A. -- in Coca Cola, of course."
January 6:
January 7:
January 8:
January 12:
January 13:
2003: Dr. Earle Marsh, author of "Physician Heal Thyself," sober 49 years, died
January 15:
1941: Bill Wilson asked Ruth Hock to get him "spook book," "The Unobstructed Universe."
1945: First A.A. meeting held in Springfield, Missouri.
1948: Polk Health Center Alcoholic Clinic for Negroes started operations with 14 willing subjects. The Washington Black Group of A.A. cooperated with the clinic.
January 17:
January 19:
1940: First A.A. group met in Detroit, Mich.
1943: Canadian newspaper reported eight men met at "Little Denmark," a Toronto restaurant, to discuss starting Canada's first A.A. group.
1999: Frank M., A.A. Archivist since 1983, died.
January 20:
January 21:
January 23:
January 24:
1971: Bill Wilson died in Miami, Florida, only weeks after sending a postcard to Senator Harold Hughes of Iowa, saying he wanted to live long enough to see Hughes become President.
January 25:
January 26:
January 27:
January 30:
Other significant things that happened in January (no specific date available):
1938: Jim Burwell, author of "The Vicious Cycle," a former atheist, gave A.A. "God as we understand Him."
1940: First AA meeting not in a home meets at Kings School, Akron, Ohio.
1942: "Drunks are Square Pegs" was published.
1951: The A.A. Grapevine published a memorial issue on Dr. Bob.
1984: "Pass It On," the story of Bill W. and how the A.A. message reached the world, was published.
1918: Original date set for Bill Wilson's marriage to Lois Burnham. The date was moved up because of the war.
1942: Bill Wilson paid tribute to Ruth Hock, AA's first paid secretary, who resigned to get married. She had written approximately 15,000 letters to people asking for help
1940: Bill W., Dr. Bob, and six other AA's asked 60 rich friends of John D. Rockefeller Jr., for money at the Union Club, NY. They got $2,000.
2002: Sue Smith Windows, Dr. Bob's daughter died.
1922: Harold E. Hughes was born on a farm near Ida Grove, Iowa. After his recovery from alcoholism, he became Governor of Iowa, a United States Senator, and the leading dark horse for the Presidential Democratic nomination in 1972, until he announced he would not run. He authored the legislation which created the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and other legislation to help alcoholics and addicts.
1938: Clarence Snyder ("Home Brewmeister" in 1st, 2nd & 3rd editions) had his last drink.
1945: World War II paper shortage forced reduction in size of the Big Book.
1937: Oxford Groups "Alcoholic Squadron" met at the home of Hank Parkhurst ("The Unbeliever" in the 1st edition of the Big Book) in New Jersey.
1971: AA groups worldwide held a memorial service for Bill Wilson.
1946: AA Tribune, Des Moines, IA, reported 36 new members since Marty Mann had been there.
1941: Baltimore Sunday Sun reported city's first AA group begun in 1940 had grown from 3 to 40 members, with five being women.
1943: AA's were granted the right to use cars for 12th step work in emergency cases, despite gas rationing.
1967: Father "John Doe" (Ralph Pfau), 1st Catholic Priest in AA, died.
1941: The Toledo Blade published first of three articles on AA by Seymour Rothman.
1939: 400 copies of the Big Book manuscript were sent to doctors, judges, psychiatrists, and others for comment. This was the "multilith" Big Book.
1842: Abe Lincoln addressed the Washington Temperance Society in Springfield, IL.
2002: Hal Marley, "Dr. Attitude of Gratitude," died. He had 37 years of sobriety. Hal testified, anonymously, before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse on December 3, 1970.
1999: Felicia Gizycka, author of "Stars Don't Fall," died. Born Countess Felicia Gizycka in 1905, she was the daughter of Count Josef Gizycki and Eleanor Medill Patterson. She married Drew Pearson in 1925 and divorced him three years later. She married Dudley de Lavigne in 1934, but the marriage lasted less than a year. In 1958 she married John Kennedy Magruder and divorced him in 1964. For most of her professional career, she went by the name Felicia Gizycka.
February 2:
February 5:
1941: Pittsburgh Telegram ran a story on the first AA group's Friday night meeting of a dozen "former hopeless drunks."
February 8:
1940: Houston Press ran first of 6 anonymous articles on A.A. by Larry J.
February 9:
February 10:
February 11:
February 12:
February 13:
1940: With about two years of sobriety, Jim Burwell ("The Vicious Cycle") moved to the Philadelphia area and started the first Philadelphia A.A. group.
February 14:
2000: William Y., "California Bill" died in Winston Salem, NC.
February 15:
February 16:
February 18:
February 19:
February 20:
February 21:
February 22:
February 24:
February 26:
Other February happenings for which I have no specific date:
1908: Bill Wilson made boomerang.
1916: Bill Wilson & sophomore class at Norwich University was suspended for hazing.
1938: Rockefeller gave $5,000 to AA.
1939: Dr. Harry Tiebout endorsed AA, the first psychiatrist to do so.
1940: First organization meeting of Philadelphia AA is held at McCready Hustona's room at 2209 Delaney Street.
1940: 1st AA clubhouse opened at 334-1/2 West 24th Street, NYC.
1943: San Francisco Bulletin reporter Marsh Masline interviewed Ricardo, a San Quentin Prison AA group member.
1946: Baton Rouge, La., AA's hold their first anniversary meeting.
1946: The AA Grapevine reported the New York Seaman's Group issued a pamphlet for seamen "on one page the 12 Steps have been streamlined into 5."
1946: Des Moines Committee for Education on Alcoholism aired its first show on KRNT.
1946: Pueblo. Colorado, had a second group, composed of alcoholic State Hospital patients.
1951: Fortune magazine article about AA was published in pamphlet form.
1959: AA granted "Recording for the Blind" permission to tape the Big Book.
1963: Harpers carried article critical of AA.
1981: 1st issue of "Markings," AA Archives Newsletter, was published, "to give the Fellowship a sense of its own past and the opportunity to study it."
1939: Readers Digest failed to write promised article on AA.
1941: Saturday Evening Post article by Jack Alexander created national sensation. AA membership quadrupled in one year from 2000 to 8000.
1947: Nell Wing, Bill's secretary and first archivist of AA, began her career at Alcoholic Foundation Office.
1891: Lois Wilson was born.
1945: Time Magazine reported Detroit radio broadcasts of AA members.
1941: Wichita Beacon reported AA member from NY who wanted to form a group in Wichita, Kansas.
1947: A Priest in St. Paul, Minnesota, founded Calix International. Alcoholics in his parish met after Saturday morning Mass to discuss the readings for the upcoming Sunday and how their faith melded with the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.
1940: Ebby Thatcher, Bill Wilson's boyhood friend and sponsor, was reported sober again.
1941: South Orange, NJ, AA held an anniversary dinner at the Hotel Suburban with Bill Wilson as the guest speaker.
1941: 1st AA group was formed in New Haven, Connecticut.
1940: Bill moved the Alcoholic Foundation office to 30 Vesey St., NY. (30 Vesey St., NY, was almost destroyed on September 11, 2001.)
1951: Cliff W. was elected 1st delegate from Southern California.
1881: Anne Ripley, Dr. Bob's wife, was born.
1951: Dr. William Duncan Silkworth died at Towns Hospital.
1936: Bill & Lois Wilson visited Fitz Mayo, "Our Southern Friend," in Maryland.
1965: Richmond Walker, author of "Twenty-Four Hours a Day" book, died at age 72, almost 23 years sober.
1943: The Charleston Mail, WV, reported that Bill Wilson had given a talk at St. John's Parish House.
1947: 1st AA group was formed in London, England.
March 2:
March 3:
March 4:
March 5:
March 9:
March 11:
March 12:
March 14:
March 15:
March 16:
March 18:
March 21:
1966: Ebby Thatcher, Bill Wilson's sponsor, died sober.
March 22:
1984: Clarence Snyder, founder of Cleveland AA and author of "Home Brewmeister," died at 81, 46 years sober.
March 23:
1941: Sybil C.'s sobriety date. She was the first woman to enter AA west of the Mississippi.
March 25:
March 29:
March 31:
Other events in March, for which I have no exact date:
1942: 1st Prison AA Group formed at San Quentin.
1945: March of Time film was produced and supervised by E.M. Jellinek.
1946: The Jefferson Barracks AA Group in Missouri was formed. It is thought to be the first ever in a military installation.
1939 - Alcoholics Anonymous AA's Big Book was published.
1941 - First Florida AA meeting was held.
1960 - The Chicago Daily News reported that Fr. Edward Dowling, Jesuit Priest who helped start the first AA group in St. Louis, had died at age 62.
1939 - The first ten copies of the Big Book arrived at the office Bill shared with Hank Parkhurst in Newark, New Jersey.
1938 - Alcoholic Foundation held its first meeting.
1942 - The Windsor Daily Star in Ontario, Canada, reported that over 400 AA's attended a testimonial dinner for Dr. Bob.
1940 - A sober Rollie Helmsley caught the only opening day no-hitter in baseball history since 1909.
1941 - 2nd group in Los Angeles, the "Hole in the Ground Group" was formed.
1940 - First AA group in Little Rock, Arkansas, was formed.
1940: Bill Wilson transferred his Works Publishing Stock to the Alcoholic Foundation. The date on which Hank Parkhurst transferred his stock is uncertain.
1940 - Dr. Bob wrote the Trustees to refuse Big Book royalties, but Bill Wilson insisted on them for Dr. Bob and Anne.
1989 - Dr. Leonard Strong died. He was Bill's brother-in-law and an AA Trustee.
1951 - AA's first General Service Conference was held.
1939 - Bill & Lois Wilson moved in with Hank Parkhurst after the bank foreclosed on 182 Clinton St. This was the first of over 50 moves before they acquired Stepping Stones.
1989 - The film "My Name is Bill W.," a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, was broadcast at 9 p.m. on ABC TV.
1940 - Larry J. of Houston, wrote The Texas Preamble used to open AA meetings in Texas.
1966 - Sister Ignatia died at the age of 77. She worked with Dr. Bob in treating many early AA members at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron.
1984 - 12 Coconuts Group, Kapiolani Park, Waikiki, Hawaii, was founded.
April 3:
April 4:
April 7:
1941 - Ruth Hock reported there were 1,500 letters asking for help, as a result of the Saturday Evening Post Article by Jack Alexander.
April 10:
April 11:
1939 - Marty Mann attended her first meeting a the home of Bill and Lois Wilson in Brooklyn.
1941 - Bill and Lois Wilson moved into their new home, Stepping Stones.
April 12:
April 16:
1973 - Dr Jack Norris Chairman of the AA General Service Board, presented President Richard Nixon with the one-millionth copy of the Big Book at the White House.
April 17:
April 19:
April 22:
April 23:
April 24:
April 25:
April 26:
April 30:
Other April events for which we have no specific dates:
1940 - The "Texas Preamble" used to open meetings in Texas, was written by Larry J. of Houston.
1940 - The first AA pamphlet was published, entitled simply: "AA."
1958 - The word "honest" was dropped from "an honest desire to top drinking," in the AA Preamble.
1960 - Bill Wilson refused to be on the cover of Time Magazine.
1988 - Cybil C., the first woman member in Los Angeles and archivist, died.
1941 - First Wisconsin AA meeting was held in a Milwaukee hotel.
1941 - Jacksonville, FL, newspaper reported start of a new AA group.
1941 - First AA group formed in New Orleans, Louisiana.
1946 - Marty Mann explained Alcoholics Anonymous and the National Committee for Education on Alcoholism on the "We the People" radio show.
1940 - Washington, DC, Sunday Star reported formation of first AA group in the District of Columbia.
1956 - The first English AA Convention was held in Cheltenham, England.
1943 - Akron AA group had its 8th anniversary celebration with 500 present and sober.
1946 - Searcy W. had his last drink. (Searcy died September 30, 2003.)
1935 - From the Mayflower Hotel, Bill Wilson called Walter Tunks who referred him to Henrietta Seiberling who introduced Bill to Dr. Bob.
1935 - Mothers' Day - Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith met for the first time in Akron, Ohio, at the home of Henrietta Seiberling.
1948 - Long Beach, California. Central Office was opened.
1961 - Bill Wilson's mother, Emiliy Strobell, died.
1941 - Ruth Hock learned that Joe W. (credited with coming up with the name Alcoholics Anonymous) had a "wet brain."
1942 - The Journal-Herald in Dayton, Ohio, ran a story on A.A. with photos of members in Halloween masks to protect their anonymity.
1950 - Dr. Bob told Bill "I reckon we ought to be buried like other folks" after hearing that local A.A.'s wanted a huge memorial.
2000 - Dr. Paul Ohliger died at the age of 83. His story, "Doctor, Alcoholic, Addict," was retitled "Acceptance Was the Answer," in the 4th edition.
1948 - Atlantic City Group celebrated its second anniversary with Dr. C. Nelson Davis of St. Luke's Hospital, Philadelphia, and other A.A.s speaking.
1974 - The first World Service meeting of AA outside of America was held in London.
1980 - "Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers," AAWS biography of AA co-founder and a history of early Mid-west AA, was published.
1938 - Bill and other AA's began writing the Big Book.
May 2:
1941 - First meeting was held in San Bernardino, California.
May 3:
1943 - Democrat Chronicle in Rochester, NY, reported first annual AA dinner at Seneca Hotel with 60 attending.
May 4:
May 5:
May 7:
May 8:
1971 - Bill Wilson was buried in private ceremony.
May 10:
May 11:
May 12:
May 14:
1998 - Sybil C., first woman to enter A.A. west of the Mississippi, died. Her date of sobriety was March 23, 1941. Her name at the time was Sybil Maxwell, though she later opened her talks by saying, "My name is Sybil Doris Adams Stratton Hart Maxwell Willis C., and I'm an alcoholic."
May 15:
May 16:
May 17:
May 18:
May 19:
May 22:
May 28:
May 29:
May 31:
Other May events for which we have no specific date:
1939 - Clarence Snyder told Dr. Bob, his sponsor, he would not be back to the Oxford Group meetings in Akron and would start an "A.A." meeting in Cleveland.
1942 - Richmond Walker, author of "Twenty-Four Hours a Day," had his last drink.
1946 - Long Form of Twelve Traditions was published in the AA Grapevine.
1946 - The AA Grapevine announced: "AA has 6,000 members in 180 groups."
1947 - Avalon, California (Catalina Island Group) was formed.
1948 - The AA Grapevine reported $2.00 was sent to the General Service headquarters of AA in New York, asking for a bottle of Alcoholics Anonymous.
1951 - Al-Anon was founded by Lois Wilson and Anne B.
1949 - Anne Smith, Dr. Bob's wife, died.
2002- Caroline Knapp, author of "Drinking: A Love Story" died sober of lung cancer.
1940 - Ebby Thatcher took a job at the NY Worlds Fair.
1940 - The first AA Group in Richmond, VA, was formed.
1939 - Bill and Lois Wilson had an argument, the first of two times Bill almost slipped.
1941 - Three AA's started a group in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
1935 - The date that is celebrated as Dr. Bob's last drink and the official founding date of AA. There is some evidence that the founders, in trying to reconstruct the history, got the date wrong and it was actually June 17.
1945 - Twenty-five hundred attend AA's 10th Anniversary in Cleveland, Ohio.
1945 - Morgan R. gave a radio appearance for AA with large audience. He was kept under surveillance to make sure he didn't drink.
1940 - First AA Group in Baltimore, MD, was formed.
1938 - Jim Burwell, "The Vicious Cycle" in Big Book, had his last drink.
1942 - New York AA groups sponsored the first annual NY area meeting. Four hundred and twenty-four heard Dr. Silkworth and AA speakers.
1940 - One hundred attended the first meeting in the first AA clubhouse at 334-1/2 West 24th St., New York City.
1942 - Columnist Earl Wilson reported that NYC Police Chief Valentine sent six policemen to AA and they sobered up. "There are fewer suicides in my files," he commented.
1944 - The first Issue of the AA Grapevine was published.
1938 - Two Rockefeller associates told the press about the Big Book "Not to bear any author's name but to be by 'Alcoholics Anonymous.'"
1939 - The New York Times reviewer wrote that the Big Book is "more soundly based psychologically than any other treatment I have ever come upon."
1935 - Bill Dotson. (AA #3) entered Akron's City Hospital for his last detox and his first day of sobriety.
1935 - Dr. Bob and Bill Wilson visited Bill Dotson at Akron's City Hospital.
1941 - Ruth Hock showed Bill Wilson the Serenity Prayer and it was adopted readily by AA.
1995 - 56,000 attend 60th Anniversary of AA in San Diego. What a party!
June 4:
June 5:
June 6:
1979 - AA gave the two-millionth copy of the Big Book to Joseph Califano, then Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. It was presented by Lois Wilson, Bill's wife, in New York.
June 7:
1941 - The first AA Group in St. Paul, Minnesota, was formed.
June 8:
June 10:
June 11:
1969 - Dr. Bob's granddaughter, Bonna, daughter of Sue Smith and Ernie Galbraith (The Seven Month Slip in the First Edition) killed herself after first killing her six-year-old child.
1971 - Ernie Galbraith died.
June 13:
June 15:
June 16:
June 17:
June 18:
June 19:
June 21:
June 24:
June 25:
June 26:
June 28:
June 30:
2000 - More than 47,000 from 87 countries attended the opening meeting of the 65th AA Anniversary in Minneapolis, MN.
Other significant events in June for which we have no specific date:
1948 - A subscription to the AA Grapevine was donated to the Beloit, Wisconsin, Public Library by a local AA member.
1981 - AA in Switzerland held its 25th Anniversary Convention with Lois Wilson and Nell Wing in attendance.
June 29- July 2:
1960 - 8700 attend 25th Anniversary of AA in Long Beach, CA
1960 - Father Ed Dowling dies
1955 - Bill W turns "the fellowship over to the fellowship" at 4:00 PM, 5000 attend 20th Anniversary at our St Louis Convention
1965 - 10,000 attend 30th Anniversary of AA in Toronto. There we came to own our Responsibility Declaration
1939 - 1st AA meeting started in Flatbush, NY
1970 - 10,900 attend 35th Anniversary of AA in Miami. Bill W gave his last talk to AA
1980 - 22,500 attend 45th Anniversary of AA in New Orleans First true marathon meeting was held here
1999 - He who has a fifth on the fourth may not come forth on the fifth...
1975 - 19,800 attend 40th Anniversary of AA in Denver Worlds largest coffee server serves 1/2 million cups a day
1985 - AA gives Ruth Hock 5,000,000th Big Book during 50th AA Anniversary in Montreal, Canada
1980 - Gay AA's have own program at 40th AA Anniversary in New Orleans
1985 - 45,000 attend 50th Anniversary of AA in Montreal. House of Seagrams flew their flags at half mast for 3 days
1940 - Bill attends 1st Summer Session at School of Alcohol Studies at Yale University
1990 - 48,000 attend 55th Anniversary of AA in Seattle. 75 countries were represented as the former Soviet Unions members attended for the first time
1940 - 1st AA Group formed in Dayton, Ohio
1941 - Texas newspaper publishes anonymous letter from founding member of Texas AA Group
1939 - Blythewood Sanitarium Dr Harry Tiebout gives Big Book to Marty M. who promptly throws it back at him
1979 - Dr. Ernest Kurtz publishes NOT-GOD, History of AA
1965 - Frank Amos AA Trustee dies
1941 - First AA group formed in Seattle, Washington
1877 - Willian Duncan Silkworth born in Brooklyn, NY
1980 - Marty M. early AA woman and founder of NCADD dies
1940 - Philly AA's send 10% of kitty to Alcoholic Foundation, sets precedent
1943 - New Haven Register CT reports arrival of AA's to study with E. M. Jellinek
1943 - L.A. press reports formation of all-Mexican AA Group
1950 - 1st AA Convention celebrates 15th anniversary of AA in Cleveland
1972 - Rollie H dies sober in Washington DC
July 2:
1965 - Best of Bill and Pocket-Sized 12 and 12 1st sold
1965 - 1st La Vigne, Canadian Grapevine Published
1993 - 50 years of AA celebrated in Canada
2000 - 20 Millionth Big Book given to Al-Anon in Minneapolis
July 2-3:
July 2-4:
July 4:
July 3-5:
July 3-6:
July 4:
July 4-6:
July 5:
1990 - AA gives Nell Wing 10,000,000th Big Book during 55th AA Anniversary in Seattle, WA
July 3-6:
July 5-7:
July 7:
July 5-8:
July 8:
July 10:
July 14:
July 14:
July 16:
July 20:
July 22:
July 22:
July 23:
July 23:
July 24:
July 28-30:
July 31:
1946 - Washington Times-Herald (DC) reports on AA clubhouse, to protect members anonymity
1954 - Brinkley S. gets sober at Towns Hosp after 50th detox
1989 - Liberty Bell Group founded in Lake Elsinore, CA - August 3, 1989
1879 - Dr Bob S. is born in St Johnsbury, Vermont
1890 - After Annual Picnic for 400, LA groups announce 1000 members in 11 groups
1938 - Akron & NY members begin writing stories for Big Book
1890 - E. M. Jellinek is born, author of The Disease Concept of Alcoholism and the Jellinek Curve
1939 - Dr Bob and Sister Ignatia admit 1st alcoholic to St Thomas Hospital, Akron, Ohio
1988 - 1st Canadian National AA Convention in Halifax, Nova Scotia
1941 - 1st AA Meeting in Colorado is held in Denver
1943 - AA group donates Big Book to public library in Quincy, MA
1941 - Bill writes Dr Bob to tell him Works Publishing has been incorporated
1954 - 24 Hours a Day is published by Richmond W
August 3:
August 3:
August 8:
August 9:
August 11:
August 15:
August 16:
August 18:
August 19:
August 25:
August 26:
August 28:
Other significant events in August for which we have no specific date:
1941 - 1st meeting in Orange County, California held in Anaheim
1981 - -Sales of the Big Book passes 3,000,000
1939 - 1st AA group founded in Chicago
2001 - 30 Vesey St, New York, AA's first Office is damaged during the World Trade Center attack
1942 - U.S. Assist. Surgeon General Kolb speaks at dinner for Bill and Dr Bob
1937 - Florence R, 1st female in AA in NY
1941 - WHJP in Jacksonville, FL airs Spotlight on AA
1947 - Dallas Central Office opens its doors
1975 - Jack Alexander, author of Saturday Evening Post article, dies
1938 - Bill W & Hank P form Works Publishing Co
1940 - Bill 12 steps Bobbie V who replaced Ruth Hock as his secretary in NY
1939 - Morris Markey runs story on AA, Alcoholics and God in Liberty Magazine
September 11:
2001 - Father Mychal J., September 15, 1979 Died sober in the World Trade Center attack
September 12:
September 13:
September 13:
September 18:
September 19:
September 21:
September 24:
September 30:
1975 - Bill W a biography by Robert T is published
2003 - Searcy W. died today, sober 20,962 days in a row
Other significant events in September for which we have no specific date:
1948 - 1st issue of Grapevine published in "pocketbook" size
1946 - 1st AA group in Mexico City is formed
1941 - Local news reports 1st AA Group in New Haven, CT
1944 - National Comm. for Education on Alcoholism formed
1945 - AA Grapevine adopted as national publication of AA
1941 - 900 dine at Cleveland dinner for Bill D, AA #3
1988 - Memorial Service for Lois W at Stepping Stones, NY
1943 - 6 of 1st 9 AA's attend clubhouse anniv. in Toledo
1939 - Bill W. gets his drivers license
1904 - Marty M, early AA woman, is born in Chicago
1935 - Ebby T, Bills sponsor, moves in with Bill and Lois
1939 - Cleveland Plain Dealer begins series on AA by Eldrick B. Davis
1963 - E M Jellinek, alcoholism educator and AA friend dies
1942 - L.A. Times reports AA groups in 14 California cities
1994 - National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence celebrates 50 years
1957 - Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age is published
October 2:
October 3:
October 6:
1988 - Lois W, Bills wife and a co-founder of Al-Anon, dies at age 97
October 8:
October 10:
1970 - Lois reads "Bills Last Message annual dinner in NY
1988 - Lois is buried next to Bill in Manchester, Vermont
October 13:
1947 - "The Melbourne Group" held its first meeting in Australia
October 15:
October 17:
October 21:
October 22:
1949 - Florence R, AA's 1st sober woman, begins drinking again, commits suicide
October 24:
1973 - Trustee's Archives Committee of AA has its 1st meeting
October 28:
Other significant events in October for which we have no specific date:
1942 - 1st issue of Cleveland Central Bulletin is published
1951 - Lasker Award presented to AA in San Francisco
1958 - Playhouse 90 TV airs "The Days of Wine and Roses"
1947 - 1st AA Group in Anchorage, Alaska
2001 - J.P. Miller, wrote screenplay for "The Days of Wine and Roses" died
1966 - President Johnson appoints Marty M to the 1st National Advisory Committee on Alcoholism
1940 - 1st AA group formed in Minneapolis
1934 - Bill W's final drunk begins on Veterans Day and lasts about a month
1940 - 1st AA meeting is held in Boston
1939 - Bill wants to go back to work, NY drunks want him to stay on as head of the movement November 13, 1939
1940 - Alcoholic Foundation publishes 1st AA Bulletin
1949 - Bill W suggests that groups devote Thanksgiving week to discussions of the 12 Traditions
1950 - Dr Bob S dies in Akron, Ohio
1939 - AA's in San Francisco hold 1st California AA meeting in the Clift Hotel -
1895 - William Griffith W. born, East Dorset, VT
1963 - Reverend Sam Shoemaker dies
November 3:
November 9:
November 10:
2001 - 1st of 400,000 4th Edition Big Books arrives in the mail
November 11:
November 12:
November 13:
November 14:
November 15:
November 16:
November 21:
1952 - Willard Richardson, past Treasurer/Chairman of Alcoholic Foundation, dies
November 26:
1939 - Hank P writes Bill advocating autonomy for all AA groups
Other significant events in November for which we have no specific date:
1936 - Fitz M leaves Towns Hospital to become AA #3 in NY with Bill W and Hank P
1941 - "First Mass AA Meeting" in Oklahoma City, 8 present, 1 was drunk
1986 - The Big Book is published in paperback
1940 - Chicago Daily Tribune begins a series of articles on AA by Nall Hamilton
1943 - Bill speaks to 300 at meeting inside San Quentin
1985 - Dave B, founder of Montreal Group dies weeks before 50th anniversary Now his story is in the 4th Edition Big Book.
1939 - Bert the Tailor lends Works Publishing $1000
1949 - Sister Ignatia accepts Poverello Medal of St Francis on AA's behalf
1997 - "AsWeSeeIt" emailing list started December 8, 1997
1975 - "Birds of a Feather" AA group for pilots is formed
1941 - Dallas Morning News reports 1st AA group formed in Dallas
1934 - Bill has Spiritual Experience at Towns Hospital
1937 - Rockland State Mental Hospital takes patients to meeting in New Jersey
1939 - Drunks in Los Angeles hold their 1st AA meeting there
1945 - Rowland Hazard dies (he carried the Oxford Group message to Ebby)
1893 - Rev Samuel Shoemaker is born
December 2:
December 5:
December 6:
1979 - Akron Beacon reports death of Henrietta Sieberling
December 7:
December 8:
December 10:
December 11:
December 12:
1937 - Bill meets with Rockefeller Foundation and tries to get money
December 13:
December 19:
December 20:
December 27:
Other significant events in December for which we have no specific date:
1938 - Using Oxford Group principles, Bill closes the loopholes and changes the 6 steps to 12
1940 - 1st AA group formed in St. Louis, Missouri
1934 - Bill & Lois start attending Oxford Group meetings
1982 - Nell Wing retires from GSO after 35 years of service