The First Scientific Report on the AIDS Epidemic

About this episode

This episode discusses the identification of the first cases of AIDS by the CDC in 1981.

June 5, 1981. The Centers for Disease Control identifies five cases of a rare infection striking gay men in California—a disease that will become known as AIDS. This episode originally aired in 2024. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser. Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

People in this episode

Host: History Daily

Topics covered

• AIDS
• health crisis
• CDC
• 1980s history
• gay rights
• infectious diseases

Keywords

• AIDS
• CDC
• California
• 1981
• health
• epidemic
• gay men
• infectious disease

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Centers for Disease Control

Places: California

More episodes of History Daily

• Saturday Matinee: What We Did Before · June 13, 2026 · 46 min
• Retreat from Cold Harbor · June 12, 2026 · 15 min
• Margaret Thatcher’s Last Election Victory · June 11, 2026 · 16 min
• Benjamin Franklin’s Kite Experiment · June 10, 2026 · 16 min
• Britain Leases Hong Kong · June 9, 2026 · 17 min
• George Orwell’s 1984 Becomes a Literary Sensation · June 8, 2026 · 18 min