� 1850 - English scientist Augustus Waller describes the appearance of shriveled nerve fibers
� 1869 - French doctor Jean-Marie Charcot first describes ALS in scientific literature
� 1881 - "On Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis" gets translated into English and published in a three-volume edition of Lectures on the Diseases of the Nervous System
� 1939 - Lou Gehrig is diagnosed with ALS
� 1941 - Lou Gehrig dies at age 38
� 1950s - ALS epidemic occurs among the Chamorro people on Guam
� 1991 - Researchers link chromosome 21 to FALS
� 1993 - SOD1 gene on chromosome 21 found to play a role in some cases of FALS
� 1996 - Rilutek� becomes the first FDA-approved drug for ALS
� 1998 - El Escorial is developed as the standard for confirming ALS
� 2001 - Alsin gene on chromosome 2 found to cause ALS2