On June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published the first scientific report in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) describing cases of a rare lung infection, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, in five young, previously healthy gay men in Los Angeles. This report marked the first official documentation of what would later be known as AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). The publication signaled the beginning of what would become a global epidemic, fundamentally changing medical research, public health policies, and social attitudes towards the disease and affected populations.
