June 1962
Eunice Kennedy Shriver starts a summer day camp for children and adults with intellectual disabilities at her home in Maryland to explore their capabilities in a variety of sports and physical activities.

July 20, 1968
Together with the Chicago Park District, the Kennedy Foundation plans and underwrites the First International Special Olympics Summer Games, held in Chicago's Soldier Field, with 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from 26 states and Canada competing in athletics, floor hockey, and aquatics.

December 1968
Special Olympics, Inc. is established as a not-for-profit charitable organization under the laws of the District of Columbia. The National Association for Retarded Citizens, the Council for Exceptional Children, and the American Association on Mental Deficiency pledge their support for this first systematic effort to provide sports training and athletic competition for individuals with intellectual disabilities based on the Olympic tradition and spirit.

August 13-15, 1970
The Second International Special Olympics Summer Games take place in Chicago, Illinois, with 2,000 athletes from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, France, and Puerto Rico.

August 13-18, 1972
The Third International Special Olympics Summer Games take place at the University of California-Los Angeles with 2,500 participants.

August 7-11, 1975
The Fourth International Special Olympics Summer Games take place at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, with 3,200 athletes from 10 countries taking part. The Games are broadcast nationwide on CBS' "Sports Spectacular."

February 5-11, 1977
The First International Special Olympics Winter Games are held in Steamboat Springs, Colorodo, with more than 500 athletes competing in skiing and skating events. CBS, ABC, and NBC television networks cover the Games.

August 8-13, 1979
The Fifth International Special Olympics Summer Games take place at the State University of New York at Brockport with more than 3,500 athletes from every state in the U.S. and more than 20 countries.

1980-1981
Special Olympics launches a training and certification program for coaches and publishes the first Sports Skills Guide.

March 8-13, 1981
The Second International Special Olympics Winter Games are held at the Village of Smugglers' Notch and Stowe, Vermont, with more than 600 Alpine and cross country skiers and ice skaters participating.

July 12-18, 1983
The Sixth International Special Olympics Summer Games are held at Louisians State University in Baton Rouge. A crowd of more than 60,000 attends the Opening Ceremonies and approximately 4,000 athletes participate.

March 24-29, 1985
Athletes from 14 countries are represented in skiing and skating events at the Third International Special Olympics Winter Games in Park City, Utah.

September 1986
The International Year of Special Olympics, culminating in the 1987 International Special Olympics Summer Games, is launched at the United Nations in New York City under the banner "Special Olympics - Uniting the World."

March, 1987
The first Special Olympics China National Games was held in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, attracting 304 athletes from 14 cities. In preparation for these games, several provinces and cities organized 44 competitions where 4,453 athletes competed for a chance to take part in the National Games.

July 1987
More than 30,000 law enforcement officers from every state in the U.S. and seven countries run 26,000 miles in the Law Enforcement Torch Run® for Special Olympics. The 1987 Torch Run raises more than $2 million.

July 31-August 8, 1987
The University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College in South Bend, Indiana, host the Seventh International Special Olympics Summer Games. More than 4,700 athletes from more than 70 countries participate in 1987's largest amateur sports event. The Games are covered in Sports Illustrated and Time, and reach more than 150 million people worldwide.

October 1987
Jimmy and Vicki Iovine of A&M Records and Bobby Shriver produce A Very Special Christmas, featuring holiday music performed by top pop chart music performers, with all album proceeds benefiting Special Olympics programs worldwide.

February 1988
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) signs an historic agreement officially recognizing Special Olympics.

July 1988
Special Olympics Unified Sports™ is launched at the annual Special Olympics Conference in Reno, Nevada.

April 1-8, 1989
The Fourth International Special Olympics Winter Games are held in Reno, Nevada, and Lake Tahoe, California. More than 1,000 athletes from 18 countries participate.

February 11, 1990
ABC-TV's "Life Goes On"- the first prime time television drama starring an actor with intellectual disabilities - devotes an hour-long episode to Special Olympics.

February 14, 1990
Sargent Shriver announces the historic decision by the Soviet Union to join the Special Olympics movement. Special Olympics is the first charitable organization to implement such a program at local and national levels in the USSR.

July 20-27, 1990
The third European Special Olympics Summer Games are held in Strathclyde, Scotland. Thirty European countries are represented by 2,400 athletes participating in eight official and five demonstration sports.

March, 1991
The second Special Olympics China National Games was held in Fuzhou, Fujian province. Seventeen teams composed of 301 athletes competed in the Games.

July 19-27, 1991
The eighth Special Olympics World Summer Games* are held in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nevada. Six thousand athletes from more than 100 countries make this the largest sporting event in the world in 1991. (*The official name changes in 1991 from International Games to Special Olympics World Summer or World Winter Games.)

September 30, 1992
Special Olympics kicks off its 25th Anniversary Celebration, "Together We Win," at the United Nations in New York City, where the 25th Anniversary Traveling Exhibit is officially launched before beginning a nationwide tour.

March 20-27, 1993
The fifth Special Olympics World Winter Games are held in Salzburg and Schladming, Austria, with 1,600 athletes from more than 50 countries participating in five winter sports. These are the first World Winter Games held outside North America.

July 1-9, 1995
Over 7,000 athletes from 143 countries gather in New Haven, Connecticut, for competition in 21 sports at the ninth Special Olympics World Summer Games.

February 1-8, 1997
Nearly 2,000 athletes from 73 countries compete in five Olympic-type winter sports in Toronto/Collingwood, Ontario, Canada for the sixth Special Olympics World Winter Games. This event is the world's largest winter multi-sport event in 1997.

July 20, 1998
Special Olympics celebrates 30 years of heroes with the introduction of twelve 30th Anniversary Global Messengers.

December 17, 1998
President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton host a Christmas concert at the White House -- entitled " A Very Special Christmas from Washington D.C." -- to celebrate Special Olympics 30th Anniversary. The event marks the first time a United States President has hosted a Special Olympics gala at the White House. It is also the first time that artists from the successful "A Very Special Christmas" album series gather to perform together.

June 26-July 4, 1999
The tenth Special Olympics World Summer Games are held in the Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill area (Triangle) in North Carolina. Over 7,000 athletes representing 150 countries compete in 19 sports.

January 16, 2000
ABC-TV's The Wonderful World of Disney -- the first prime time television movie about the life of a Special Olympics athlete -- "The Loretta Claiborne Story."

May 18-22, 2000
The Special Olympics China Millennium March takes place throughout China. Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with Special Olympics athletes, light the Flame of Hope at the Great Wall of China, and celebrate the Special Olympics movement with gala events in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Special Olympics China declare they will increase the current number of Special Olympics athletes from 50,000 to 500,000 by 2005.

May 20-23, 2000
The first-ever Global Athlete Congress takes place in The Hague, The Netherlands. 60 athletes from every region of the world comes together to discuss the future of the Special Olympics movement. Despite differences in language, culture, age and gender, these athletes are able to discuss topics, challenge existing ideals and vote on new resolutions.

May 27- June 4, 2000
More than 2,000 athletes from 53 Special Olympics Programs representing Europe and Eurasia participate in the 2000 Special Olympics European Games in Groningen, the Netherlands.

December 14, 2000
President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton host a Christmas concert at the White House -- entitled " A Very Special Christmas from Washington D.C." -- to celebrate the Spirit of Special Olympics. The event marks the second time a United States President has hosted a Special Olympics gala at the White House. It is also the second time artists from the successful " A Very Special Christmas " album series gather to perform together.

March 4-11, 2001
Over 1,800 athletes representing approximately 70 countries compete in seven Olympic-type winter sports at the 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Anchorage, Alaska. The 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games are the largest sporting event ever held in the history of Alaska.

March 5, 2001
The United States Senate Committee on Appropriation conducts a public hearing, chaired by the Honorable Senator Ted Stevens, on promoting health for individuals with Intellectual Disability. Special Olympics presents a Special Report on the Health Status and of Needs of Individuals with Mental Retardation (Intellectual Disability), identifying actions to improve the quality and length of life of persons with intellectual disabilities. A panel of distinguished speakers in the fields of intellectual disability, healthcare, and physical fitness testify.

March 5-10, 2001
First-ever Global Youth Summit is held in conjunction with the 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games. Thirty-four students with and without intellectual disabilities from around the world work in pairs to report on the World Games and discuss how to overcome the attitudes and stereotypes that kids with intellectual disabilities face.

July 9-14, 2001
The Special Olympics African Hope 2001 took place in South Africa and launched a growth campaign to increase the number of Special Olympics athletes throughout Africa to 100,000 by 2005. Former South African President Nelson Mandela, President Thabo Mbeki, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Special Olympics Global Torchbearer Arnold Schwarzenegger and Special Olympics South Africa athletes participated in a weeklong series of events, including the lighting of the "Flame of Hope" on Robben Island.

September, 2001
The new worldwide education initiative, Special Olympics Get Into It™, was launched. The school-based curriculum was introduced to youth in mainstream schools and includes information about the movement, its mission and its athletes. Through lesson plans, videotapes and service-learning activities, students learn to understand, accept and celebrate individual differences.

November 16, 2001
The NCAA Honors Committee announced Eunice Kennedy Shriver as the recipient of the 2002 Theodore Roosevelt Award -- the highest honor the NCAA bestows on an individual. Mrs. Shriver became the 35th recipient of the award at the NCAA Honors Dinner January 13, 2002, in Indianapolis.The award, also known as the "Teddy," is presented annually to a distinguished citizen who is a former college student-athlete and who has exemplified the ideals and purposes of college athletics by demonstrating a continuing interest and concern for physical fitness and sport. The award is named after former President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt in recognition of his role in the inception of the NCAA.

December 6, 2001
Surgeon General David Satcher presented the prized Surgeon General's "Medallion Award" to Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of Special Olympics. The Surgeon General's highest honor recognized Mrs. Shriver as a leader in the worldwide struggle to improve and enhance the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities.

December 13, 2001
President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush hosted a formal White House dinner to celebrate the "Spirit of Special Olympics." The evening included a musical performance by well-known blues musician B.B. King. The event marked the third time a United States President has hosted a Special Olympics gala at the White House.

February, 2002
U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., released a health report, "Closing the Gap: A National Blueprint to Improve the Health of Persons with Mental Retardation (Intellectual Disability)." The report outlines the findings of the first-ever Surgeon General's Conference on Health Disparities and Mental Retardation (Intellectual Disability) held at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., USA, on December 5-6, 2001. The impetus for the conference and the subsequent report came from a Senate Hearing on the subject at the 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games.

July 18-20, 2002
Nelson Mandela, the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and Special Olympics celebrated the former South African President's 84th birthday in Polokwane, South Africa. The celebration included over 500 youth with and without mental disabilities who participated in Special Olympics Unified Sports™ activities and Special Olympics Healthy Athletes screenings.

September 2002
The Third Special Olympics China National Games was held in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. During the games, over 1,300 athletes from China's 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions participated. Teams from Special Olympics Programs in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia also participated in the Games. Furthermore, over 1,500 volunteers and hundreds of officials, referees and journalists attended the games. Over 5,000 people gathered to witness the lighting of the torch at Xi'an 's ancient city wall at the opening ceremonies of the Third National Special Olympics China Games.

September 7-October 26, 2002
The "Flame of Hope" lighting ceremony at the Raj Ghat memorial of Mahatma Gandhi in New Delhi, India, marked the beginning of the longest Law Enforcement Torch Run® in the 35-year history of Special Olympics. More than 25,000 Special Olympics athletes, families, coaches and volunteers; law enforcement officers; government ministers; and Olympic athletes carried the Special Olympics "Flame of Hope" from the Raj Ghat in New Delhi to 27 cities throughout India covering more than 23,000 kilometers (14,292 miles).

June 20, 2003
The Multinational Study of Attitudes toward Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities results are released in Belfast, Northern Ireland; presented as part of the 2003 Scientific Symposium, held in association with the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games. Commissioned by Special Olympics, the two-year study, led by Dr. Gary Siperstein of the University of Massachusetts Boston, is the largest and most comprehensive study ever conducted on this subject, reporting how people across the world view the roles and capabilities of persons with intellectual disabilities in the workplace, the classroom and in daily social life.

June 21-29, 2003
The 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games are held in Dublin, Ireland -- the first Summer Games ever held outside the United States. The world's largest sporting event for 2003 featured 7,000 athletes from more than 150 countries participating in 21 sports.

June 22, 2003
Sargent Shriver retires as Chairman of Special Olympics. Timothy Shriver becomes Chairman, President and CEO of Special Olympics.

February 26, 2004
Burson-Marsteller (BM) Beijing's Special Olympics China campaign, titled Shanghai Wins 2007 Special Olympic Games: Breaking Down Cultural Barriers and Making Dreams Come True, was selected for honorable mention by the 2003 United Nations Grand Award for outstanding achievement in public relations.

March 2004
Shanghai's bid for the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games is made official by Special Olympics Founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Chairman and CEO Timothy Shriver, at the Signing Ceremony hosted by the Shanghai Municipal Government. This is only the second time in Special Olympics' history that the World Summer Games have been awarded to a city outside of the United States, and the first time ever to a city in Asia. Both Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Timothy Shriver met with Chinese President Hu Jintao during the announcement to discuss the development of the Movement in China.

June 11, 2004
Special Olympics welcomed international basketball icon, Yao Ming, to the Special Olympics family as a Special Olympics Global Ambassador. Yao Ming is a native of Shanghai, the site for the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games.

November 9, 2004
Special Olympics history is made as the first health clinic devoted specifically to Special Olympics athletes and people with intellectual disabilities in China was officially opened in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province in China. The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Special Olympics Sports Health Center, the first of its kind in the Special Olympics Movement, was developed by Wenzhou Medical College, a Special Olympics Regional Collaborating Center.

February 26, 2005
The 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games officially began in Nagano with the opening ceremonies held at M-Wave, one of the world's largest indoor speed skating rinks and site of the 1998 Olympic Winter Games speed skating competition. The Games were held from February 26 to March 5, 2005. Traveling from all corners of the world, nearly 1,900 athletes were joined by 650 coaches and more than 10,000 volunteers, families and friends as they competed and celebrated the spirit of sportsmanship.

March 21, 2005
Bruce Pasternack is named as the new President and CEO of Special Olympics. Timothy Shriver remains Chairman.

November 14, 2005
Arnold Schwarzenegger returns to China and helps Special Olympics China celebrate reaching their goal of 500,000 athletes by the end of 2005.