The 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games are fast approaching. To get you ready for this year's games, specialolympics.org and Universal Sports have compiled a timeline of important moments in the movement's history.
The Games
1968 -- 1st International Special Olympics Summer Games at Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill. 1,000 athletes from 26 U.S. states and Canada compete in athletics, floor hockey and aquatics.
1970 -- 2nd International Special Olympics Summer Games in Chicago, Ill. 2,000 athletes from all 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C., France, Puerto Rico, and Canada compete.
1972 -- 3rd International Special Olympics Summer Games from Los Angeles, Calif see 2,500 athletes compete.
1975 -- 4th International Special Olympics Summer Games in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. 3,200 athletes from ten countries compete.
1977 -- 1st International Special Olympics Winter Games from Steamboat Springs, Colo. 500 athletes compete in the inaugural winter games.
1979 -- 5th International Special Olympics Summer Games in Brockport, N.Y. 3,500 athletes from more than 20 countries compete.
1981 -- 2nd International Special Olympics Winter Games in Smugglers' Notch and Stowe, Vt. 600 athletes participated.
1983 -- 6th International Special Olympics Summer Games occur in Baton Rouge, La. 4,000 athletes compete in front of 60,000 fans.
1985 -- 3rd International Special Olympics Winter Games in Park City, Utah.
1987 -- 7th International Special Olympics Summer Games take place in South Bend, Ind. The first ever prime-time broadcast of the games shows more than 4,700 athletes and 70 countries.
1989 -- 4th International Special Olympics Winter Games in Lake Tahoe, Calif. and Reno, Nev. 1,000 athletes from 18 countries compete.
1991 -- 8th Special Olympics World Summer Games in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn. 6,000 athletes from 100 countries participate.
1993 -- 5th Special Olympics World Winter Games in Salzburg and Schladming, Austria. 50 countries participate by sending a total of 1,600 athletes.
1995 -- 9th Special Olympics World Summer Games in New Haven, Conn. 143 countries compete in 19 sports.
1997 -- 6th Special Olympics World Winter games are played in Toronto, Canada. 1,450 athletes from 73 countries enjoy the games.
1999 -- 10th Special Olympics World Summer Games in Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, N.C. see 7,000 athletes from 150 countries participate.
2001 -- 7th Special Olympics World Winter Games in Anchorage, Alaska.
2003 -- 11th Special Olympics World Summer Games in Dublin, Ireland. 6,500 athletes from 150 countries compete.
2005 -- 8th Special Olympics World Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. 1,800 athletes from 84 countries are represented.
2007 -- 12th Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, China.
Making History
1962 -- Eunice Kennedy Shriver starts a 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.
1968 -- The 1st International Special Olympics Summer Games are held at Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill. 1,000 individuals with intellectual disabilities from 26 states and Canada compete.
1971 -- The U.S. Olympic Committee gives Special Olympics official approval as one of only two organizations authorized to use the name "Olympics" in the United States.
1977 -- Steamboat Springs, Colo. hosts the 1st International Special Olympics Winter Games with more than 500 athletes competing in skiing and skating events. NBC, CBS and ABC cover the games.
1986 -- The United Nations in New York City launches the International Year of the Special Olympics under the banner "Special Olympics -- Uniting the World."
1987 -- More than 30,000 law enforcement officers from all 50 U.S. states and seven different countries
1988 -- THE IOC signs a historic agreement with Sargent and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, in which the IOC officially endorses and recognizes the Special Olympics.
1993 -- The winter games are played outside of North America for the first time in Austria.
1995 -- A number of new initiatives make their debut at the 9th Special Olympics Summer Games, including the Host Town Program, Healthy Athletes. People with intellectual disabilities serve as certified officials for the first time.
1997 -- Healthy Athletes becomes and official SPecial Olympics initiative, providing health-care services to Special Olympics athletes worldwide. The program includes free vision, hearing and dental screening, injury prevention clinics and nutrition education.
1998 -- Special Olympics celebrates its 30th anniversary.
2000 -- The "Campaign for Special Olympics" sets unprecedented goals to increase athlete participation by 1 million and to raise more than $120 million over the next five years.
2000 -- As part of the "Campaign for Special Olympics", Arnold Schwarzenegger joins Special Olympics athletes to light the "Flame of Hope" at the Great Wall of China and launch the Special Olympics China Millennium March. kicking off the most ambitious growth campaign in the movement's history. China pledges to increase its current number of athletes from 50,000 to 500,000 by 2005.
2001 -- Special Olympics develops and distributes So Get Into It kits for student with and without disabilities to schools and teachers worldwide at no cost. The kit teaches young people about intellectual disabilities while empowering them to "be the difference" by learning values of inclusion, acceptance and respect.
2003 -- Ireland hosts the first Special Olympics World Summer Games to be held outside the United States. 6,500 athletes participate in this landmark event.
2005 -- The Ringer, a Farrelly Brothers film starring Johnny Knoxville, opens in theaters in the U.S. and Canada. The film includes appearances from more than 150 athletes. Its producers collaborate with Special Olympics to challenge destructive stereotypes and negative thinking about people with intellectual disabilities.
2006 -- Special Olympics surpasses its goal of doubling the number of athletes that participate worldwide to 2.5 million participants. With sports at the core, the movements stands as a leader in advancing the rights and opportunities and policy change for its athletes in 165 countries worldwide.
2007 -- The city of Shanghai, China, hosts the 12th Special Olympics World Summer Games, which are broadcast internationally on an unprecedented scale. These games, with more than 7,500 athletes from 164 countries participating, promise to be a historic moment in the movement's history.
2008 -- Special Olympics celebrates its 40th anniversary as a true global movement, with almost 3 million athletes in more than 180 countries around the world.
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