Alcoholics Anonymous Founded: A New Path to Recovery
Dr. Robert Smith took his last drink on June 10, 1935, the date recognized as the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous. Smith, a surgeon in Akron, Ohio, had been introduced to Bill Wilson, a New York stockbroker, by a mutual friend. Wilson had achieved sobriety through a spiritual experience and a self-help approach that emphasized one alcoholic helping another. Their partnership produced the Twelve Steps, first published in the book Alcoholics Anonymous (known as "The Big Book") in 1939. The program's core innovation was peer support: recovering alcoholics helping active alcoholics, with anonymity protecting both from social stigma. AA now has over two million members in 180 countries. The twelve-step model has been adapted for dozens of other conditions, from narcotics addiction to gambling to overeating.
June 10, 1935
91 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Bill W.
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Bob Smith (doctor)
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Alcoholics Anonymous
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Akron, Ohio
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Bob Smith (doctor)
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Alcoholics Anonymous
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Akron, Ohio
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Bill W.
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Ohio
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United States
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Sobriedad
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Abstinenz
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Ethanol
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John F. Kennedy
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Homem
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Woman
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What Else Happened on June 10
Emperor Tenji of Japan established the Rokoku water clock at the Omi Palace in Otsu on June 10, 671 AD, standardizing timekeeping for the imperial court. The wa…
Frederick I Barbarossa drowned in the Saleph River while leading his massive army toward Jerusalem, shattering the Holy Roman Empire’s momentum in the Third Cru…
Pope Honorius III issued the bull Vineae Domini custodes, formally authorizing Dominican friars to carry their missionary work to Morocco. The papal endorsement…
Ottoman forces under Orhan Gazi crushed the Byzantine army at the Battle of Pelekanon, ending imperial control over Bithynia. This defeat stripped Constantinopl…
An empire lost Asia Minor not in a great clash of armies, but in a single afternoon's retreat. At Pelekanon, near Nicomedia, Emperor Andronikos III faced the Ot…
Peasants nearly took France. Not metaphorically — they burned castles, killed nobles, and sent the aristocracy fleeing for their lives. The Jacquerie uprising o…
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