--- description: Track the history of the disease through the pages of TIME title: World AIDS Day: Virus History in 7 Stories image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc93dff9130fe721b/69876ac1cd1bba0ae26f3bb4/1101850812_400.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [health](/tag/health/) ## health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # World AIDS Day: The History of a Virus in 7 Stories  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Dec 1, 2014 12:00 PM CUT  The Aug. 12, 1985, cover of TIME The Aug. 12, 1985, cover of TIMECover Credit: ERSKINE PALMER  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Dec 1, 2014 12:00 PM CUT Dec. 1 has been World AIDS Day since 1988 — but though the awareness and activism around the diseases has changed drastically during the years between then and now. To see just how much our understanding and attitudes have evolved, take a look back at TIME’s coverage of AIDS through these seven essential stories: [**_Hunting for the Hidden Killers_**](http://time.com/vault/issue/1983-07-04/page/56/ "undefined") _by Walter Isaacson, Jul. 4, 1983_ This 1983 cover story wasn’t the first time AIDS appeared in the pages of TIME — in 1982, an article had explained the new “plague” to readers — but the tale of the “disease detectives” at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health highlights just how little was known about the disease: --- > “” --- [**_AIDS: A Growing Threat_** ](http://time.com/vault/issue/1985-08-12/page/44/ "undefined")_by Claudia Wallis, Aug. 12, 1985_ As AIDS spread, so did awareness and knowledge — as well as paranoia: --- > “” --- [**_Invincible AIDS_** ](http://time.com/vault/issue/1992-08-03/page/30/ "undefined")_by Christine Gorman, Aug. 3, 1992_ As the ’90s began, the hope that modern science could quickly conquer AIDS began to fade: --- > “” --- [**_As if by Magic_** ](http://time.com/vault/issue/1996-02-12/page/58/ "undefined")_by Steve Wulf, Feb. 12, 1996_ For more than a decade, AIDS had been a death sentence — but suddenly survival had a celebrity face. The NBA’s Magic Johnson was back in action: --- > “” --- [**_Hope With an Asterisk_** ](http://time.com/vault/issue/1996-12-30/page/78/ "undefined")_by Richard Lacayo, Dec. 30, 1996_ In 1996, TIME named Dr. David Ho, an AIDS researcher, the Man of the Year — and, in a series of accompanying stories, explained why. That year, a cocktail of three drugs had changed what it meant to be an HIV patient: --- > “” --- [**_Death Stalks a Continent_** ](http://time.com/vault/issue/2001-02-12/page/1/ "undefined")_by Johanna McGeary, Feb. 12, 2001_ In the U.S., the possibility was on the horizon: AIDS could be perhaps become a manageable chronic illness, or at least a rare disease rather than a plague. But that hopeful attitude was not a worldwide phenomenon, as a lengthy and moving cover story about African patients made clear: --- > “” --- [**_The End of AIDS_** ](http://time.com/3596979/the-end-of-aids/ "undefined")_by Alice Park, Dec. 1, 2014_ The current issue of TIME presents pretty much the opposite picture from the one seen a mere three decades earlier. Whereas the syndrome’s first mentions were full of confusion and fear, today’s AIDS story — the tale of a program in San Francisco that aims to get everyone who’s positive onto medication — is about control and opportunity: --- > “” --- **Read more:** [The Photo That Changed the Face of AIDS](http://time.com/3503000/behind-the-picture-the-photo-that-changed-the-face-of-aids/ "undefined")  The July 4, 1983, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BILL PIERCE  The Aug. 12, 1985, cover of TIME Cover Credit: ERSKINE PALMER  The Feb. 16, 1987, cover of TIME Cover Credit: ROBERTO BROSAN  The Aug. 3, 1992, cover of TIME TIME  The Feb. 12, 1996, cover of TIME Cover Credit: WALTER IOOSS JR.  The Dec. 30, 1996, cover of TIME Cover Credit: GREGORY HEISLER  The Feb. 12, 2001, cover of TIME Cover Credit: JAMES NACHTWEY ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3603734/world-aids-day-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3603734/world-aids-day-history/"},"headline":"World AIDS Day: The History of a Virus in 7 Stories","datePublished":"2014-12-01T12:00:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:55.761Z","description":"Track the history of the disease through the pages of TIME","url":"https://time.com/3603734/world-aids-day-history/","keywords":["health","medicine","Science topic","photography","HIV","Aids"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc93dff9130fe721b/69876ac1cd1bba0ae26f3bb4/1101850812_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc93dff9130fe721b/69876ac1cd1bba0ae26f3bb4/1101850812_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"1101850812_400","caption":"The Aug. 12, 1985, cover of TIME","creditText":"Cover Credit: ERSKINE PALMER","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/health/","name":"health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3603734/world-aids-day-history/","name":"World AIDS Day: The History of a Virus in 7 Stories"}}]}] ```