Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international self help organization for those fighting the "battle of the bottle."

In May 1935 two American alcoholics, Bill Wilson — a stockbroker — and Dr Bob Smith — a surgeon - met for the first time at a church group. They struck up a solid friendship linked to their shared struggles with overcoming their drinking problems.

On June 10, 1935 Wilson gave Smith a beer to steady his hands before an operation he was to perform, The beer was the doctor's last and they promised to help each other remain sober and to work with others to do the same.

Inspired by stories of other alcoholics getting over their difficulties by having a spiritual awakening and their own experiences in benefiting from sharing with each other their problems Wilson and Smith published a book in 1939, Alcoholics Anonymous. Within a few years many other alcoholics were meeting together in AA groups whose purpose is "to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety." June 10th is the date marked by AA for its anniversaries.

A twelve-step program, a set of guiding principles outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction, was proposed. The Twelve Steps were first published in the 1939 book Alcoholics Anonymous.

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Bill Wilson experimented with LSD and found the experiences to be so life changing that he considered the use of the drug as a step of AA. After the ensuing backlash, he removed himself from the AA governing body.

The first female member Florence Rankin joined AA in March 1937 and the first non-Protestant member, a Roman Catholic, joined in 1939.

The first Black AA group was established in 1945 in Washington DC by Jim S., an African-American physician from Virginia.

In 2014 there were  more than 115,000 AA groups registered throughout the world.

The principles of AA have been used to form many numbers of other fellowships specifically designed for those recovering from various addictions. In 1953 Narcotics Anonymous received permission from AA to use the Twelve Steps in its own program.