Welcome to the beginning of the 21st century. Though arguments continue as to when the new millennium begins – Jan. 1, 2000 or Jan. 1, 2001 – now is a perfect time to pause and take stock of what’s happened in the world during the last thousand years or so. At AT, we decided to go back even further and find all we could about arthritis – from how long it’s been with us to milestones in how we treat it. So put your feet up and join us on an armchair journey through the fascinating history of a condition that affects so many people.

circa (c.) 85,000,000 BC – Aching Old Bones: A herd of Iguanadons, small (three-ton) dinosaurs, lives near what is now Brussels, Belgium. Their remains show that many of them had ankle osteoarthritis (OA). That’s rare, because few dinosaur remains exhibit signs of primary OA, although many show secondary OA from injuries or congenital defects. Researchers believe a difference in joint structure kept even dinosaurs weighing several tons from developing OA.

c. 1,000,000 BC – Not-So Hip Hop: Pleistocene-era kangaroos in what is now Australia had a slight hitch in their hop. Their bones show many of them had primary OA.

c. 30,000 – 28,000 BC – It Runs in the Family: Neanderthal man – a relative of modern man – appears. Remains indicate many individuals developed secondary OA as a result of injuries and the difficulties of daily life.

c. 4500 BC – The First Signs: American Indians living near the Tennessee and Green Rivers in what is now Tennessee, had rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This is the earliest known appearance of the disease.

c. 3000 BC – Chillin’ Out: Otzi, the name given to a mummy also known as the ice man, sets out to cross the Alps near the modern-day border of Italy and Austria. He doesn’t make it, but the discovery of his frozen, mummified remains, the medicinal herbs he carried in a pouch, and his arthritic joints, some 5,000 years later, will provide a wealth of information about his time.

c. 2590 BC – Pyramid Power: Cheops constructs the great pyramid at Giza. Egyptians practiced mummification of their dead and many Egyptian mummies, found in pyramids and tombs throughout the country, show signs of arthritis.

c. 700 – 300 BC – Restless Nights: the author of the Book of Job pens these lines: "… And I am full of tossings to and fro until the dawning of the day … and the days of affliction have taken hold upon me. My bones are pierced in me in the night season; and my sinews take no rest." (Job 7:3-4 and 30:16-17). Many researchers and historians believe this passage describes arthritis or perhaps even fibromyalgia.

c. 500 BC – The Wonder Drug: ground willow bark gains popularity as a means to reduce aches and pains. Its effective ingredient, a naturally-occurring compound called salicin, will eventually be duplicated by scientists as acetylsalicylic acid – or aspirin.

c. 400 BC – Father of Medicine: Hippocrates, a physician living on the Greek island of Kos, mentions joint ailments in 18 of his famous medical treatises and gout in five. His surviving documents indicate a skilled medical and analytical mind and he becomes known as the father of modern medicine. The Hippocratic Oath, which physicians take when beginning their practices, is named in his honor.

c. 50 BC – Of Warriors and Poets: Famed military leader Julius Caesar dies (43 BC) and Roman poet Horace, an accomplished satirist, is born (65 BC). Both had arthritis.

c. 200 AD – Roman Recordings: Galen, a Roman physician whose patients include Emperor Marcus Aurelius, creates a set of writings that influenced Western medicine for the next 1,400 years. In them, he frequently mentions arthritis.

c. 300 – Tax-Exempt: Roman Emperor Diocletian exempts citizens with severe arthritis from taxation.

c. 950 – Out Go the Lights: the Dark Ages descend on Europe.

1490 – Venus and Arthritis: Simonetta Vespucco, model for Italian artist Sandro Boticelli’s Birth of Venus, dies of tuberculosis. Today, doctors examining her portrait think she may have suffered from tuberculosis-related arthritis. Her fingers are somewhat deviated and swollen; her ankles are swollen as well.

1600 – Renaissance Man: The French physician Guillame Baillou introduces the idea of rheumatism as a systemic, musculoskeletal condition. Shakespeare writes Romeo and Juliet.

1680 – Insight Into RA: British physician Thomas Sydenham (sometimes called the English Hippocrates) describes a chronic phase of rheumatic fever in which a patient may become "a cripple to the day of his death and wholly lose the use of his limbs whilst the knuckles of his fingers shall become knotty and protuberant ..."

1754 – Skin Deep: Curzio, a physician in Naples, Italy, first describes the condition known as scleroderma.

1800 – RA Recorded: a Parisian doctor makes the first documentation of rheumatoid arthritis.

1845 – Lupus is Identified: Viennese pathologist Ferdinand von Hebra describes an eruption that occurs " … mainly on the face, on the cheeks and nose in a distribution not dissimilar to a butterfly." This condition will become known as lupus. ab 1851 – coining a phrase, part I: French physician Pierre Louis Alphee Cazenave applies the term lupus erythematosus to a skin disorder.

1858 – Coining a Phrase, Part II: British physician A.B. Garrod coins the term rheumatoid arthritis.

1880 – Putting RA on the Map: The first clinical description of RA is penned by French physician Augustin-Jacob Landre-Beuvais in Paris, who describes nine women with what he thinks is a variant of gout and therefore names it goutte asthenique primitive.

1886 – Coining a Phrase, Part III: British physician John K. Spender introduces the term osteoarthritis. In New York harbor, the Statue of Liberty – a gift to Americans from the French – is dedicated.

1890 – Birth of a Treatment: Doctors in Europe note that quinine causes a reduction in the lesions associated with lupus. By the 1940s, soldiers in the tropics taking a synthetic drug, chloroquine, instead, notice a lessening of arthritis symptoms; hydroxychloroquine sulfate follows in the 1960s as a treatment for lupus, RA and related diseases.

1897 – Suffer the Children: George F. Still reports the first mention of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, calling it a "form of chronic joint disease in children." German chemist Felix Hoffman, searching for something to help ease his father’s arthritis pain, creates aspirin. He works for Friedrich Bayer & Co. Bayer aspirin remains one of the most easily recognized drugs in the world.

1907 – Drawing the Line: British geneticist Archibald E. Garrod introduces the modern differentiation between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Sir Robert Baden Powell founds the Boy Scouts.

1933 – The Eyes Have It: In his theses, Henrik Sjögren, a Swedish ophthalmologist, discusses 19 female patients with what he called "sicca syndrome" – arthritis combined with extreme dryness of the eyes and mouth. By 1943, Sjögren’s syndrome will be discussed worldwide.

1934 – New Name, Same Game: American Rheumatism Association is formed (renamed American College of Rheumatology in 1988). The Dionne Quintuplets are born in Ontario.

1948 – Building a Strong Foundation: The Arthritis and Rheumatism Foundation – now the Arthritis Foundation – is created with a mission of promoting research and education while improving treatment and rehabilitation for people with arthritis.

1949 – RA Breakthrough: Philip Hench, MD, and Edward Kendall, PhD, first use cortisone in the treatment of RA.

1955 – Trusted Name: An acetaminophen elixir called Tylenol is introduced as an aspirin-free pain reliever for children. The United States and the Soviet Union announce they will each launch earth satellites two years hence – the space race is on.

1959 – For the Record: The Arthritis Foundation first speaks to Congress about people with arthritis who are cheated out of money by promoters of phony cures and treatments to the tune of $260 million a year. The popular press writes about arthritis-cure quackery.

1964 – All in the Name: The Arthritis and Rheumatism Foundation becomes the Arthritis Foundation.

1966 – National Recognition: The Surgeon General’s report designates arthritis as a national health menace and recommends a program to decrease disability from arthritis. Medicare and Medicaid are implemented. TV watchers have a new choice in viewing: color.

1972 – A Very Good Month: Presidential proclamation declares May National Arthritis Month. Watergate break-in leads the news; The Godfather leads at the box office.

1974 – Congress on Our Side: Congress passes the National Arthritis Act, which legislates funds for development of comprehensive arthritis care centers, assistance for medical schools and establishment of a national commission to develop long-range plans related to arthritis.

1977 – It’s in the Genes: The genetic marker HLA-DR4 is found to be associated with RA.

1978 – Ticks Talk: Scientists discover Lyme disease is carried by ticks. Government figures say 21.6 million Americans have some form of arthritis or a related disease.

1987 – A Star is Born: The Arthritis Foundation launches Arthritis Today.

1988 – New Drug on the Scene: The FDA approves methotrexate for the treatment of RA.

1990 – Fibromyalgia in the Spotlight: The condition formerly known as fibrositis is renamed fibromyalgia syndrome by the American College of Rheumatology. Scientists also discover a genetic defect that causes OA in some people.

1997 – 1999 – At Long Last: A number of new drugs are approved by the FDA for the treatment of OA and RA. Among them are disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs that affect the function of immune cells called T lymphocytes; viscosupplements that ease knee OA pain; and biologic agents that inhibit a chemical thought to drive RA inflammation and tissue damage. The Arthritis Foundation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) join forces, along with 22 other public and private organizations interested in arthritis, to develop the National Arthritis Action Plan, a comprehensive, systematic public health approach to reduce the arthritis burden throughout the United States.

1999 – More Good News: The FDA approves a new category of drugs, Cox-2 inhibitors, a sub-category of NSAIDs that causes less stomach damage. Some 70 million American adults have arthritis or chronic joint symptoms now and the number of people with arthritis will continue to grow as baby boomers age.

Managing Editor Shannon Wilder’s timeline includes more than 11 years as a magazine writer and editor.