SOCIAL ACTIVIST

Ryan White

1971 - 1990

Photo of Ryan White

Icon of person Ryan White

Ryan Wayne White (December 6, 1971 – April 8, 1990) was an American teenager from Kokomo, Indiana, who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS in the United States after his school barred him from attending classes following a diagnosis of AIDS. As a hemophiliac, White became infected with HIV from a contaminated factor VIII blood treatment and, when diagnosed in December 1984, was given six months to live. Doctors said he posed no risk to other students, as AIDS is not an airborne disease and spreads solely through bodily fluids, but AIDS was poorly understood by the general public at the time. When White tried to return to school, irate parents and teachers in Howard County rallied against his attendance due to unwarranted concerns of the disease spreading to other students and staff. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Ryan White has received more than 4,886,984 page views. His biography is available in 33 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 32 in 2019). Ryan White is the 596th most popular social activist (up from 1,114th in 2019), the 9,992nd most popular biography from United States (down from 8,157th in 2019) and the 91st most popular American Social Activist.

Ryan White was an American teenager from Indiana who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS awareness and safe sex education in the 1980s. He contracted AIDS through a tainted blood treatment for his hemophilia and fought a prolonged legal battle to be accepted in school, raising public understanding about the disease's transmission before his death in 1990 at age 18.

Memorability Metrics

  • 4.9M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 51.21

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 33

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.80

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.44

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among SOCIAL ACTIVISTS

Among social activists, Ryan White ranks 596 out of 840. Before him are Katie Eder, Andrea James, Miriam Rodríguez Martínez, Ekaterina Karavelova, Aed Carabao, and Mosab Hassan Yousef. After him are Elvia Carrillo Puerto, Ella Baker, Hu Jia, Jamnalal Bajaj, Ingrid Newkirk, and Martin Luther King III.

Most Popular Social Activists in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1971, Ryan White ranks 286. Before him are Patty Jenkins, Susi Susanti, Hélène Ségara, Danijela Martinović, Alejandro Fernández, and Penny Hardaway. After him are Athena Chu, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Mackenzie Crook, Anthony Rapp, Kirk Acevedo, and Midori. Among people deceased in 1990, Ryan White ranks 279. Before him are Clara González, David Hampshire, Bob Gerard, Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnnie Ray, and Spark Matsunaga. After him are Susan Oliver, Pearl Bailey, Mike Mazurki, David Rose, Jadwiga Wajs, and Joseph-Marie Trịnh Văn Căn.

Others Born in 1971

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Others Deceased in 1990

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Ryan White ranks 9,992 out of 20,380. Before him are Vicki Peterson (1958), Crane Wilbur (1886), Armistead Maupin (1944), Penny Hardaway (1971), Rufus King (1755), and Erin Gray (1950). After him are Bruce Broughton (1945), Lauren Shuler Donner (1949), Nick de Firmian (1957), Clarence Clark (1859), Danny Ongais (1942), and Maurice Stokes (1933).

Others born in United States

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Among SOCIAL ACTIVISTS In United States

Among social activists born in United States, Ryan White ranks 91. Before him are James Meredith (1933), Sylvia Rivera (1951), Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt (1861), Alva Belmont (1853), Katie Eder (1950), and Andrea James (1967). After him are Ella Baker (1903), Martin Luther King III (1957), Lillian Wald (1867), Aaron Swartz (1986), Mario Savio (1942), and Rachel Corrie (1979).

American born Social Activists

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