The Meaning of Life (1914) & AIDS (1981-1982)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

THE MEANING OF LIFE

   Check the Library of Congress's American Memory database for "thing after another."  ("Damn" is not always there.)
   There was a song by Arthur Denvir, "Life's Just One (Bong) Thing After Another" (1914).
   Also, in a letter dated 30 November 1914, is: "Some one has said that 'Life is just one damn thing after another.'"
   1914 is earlier than 1926.

--------------------------------------------------------
AIDS

   I was going through NEW YORK magazine and had to pause when I saw this, 31 May 1982, pg. 52:

_The Gay Plague_
By Michael VerMeulen
_A mysterious immune disorder is spreading like wildfire._
(...)(Pg. 53, col. 1--ed.)
   For want of a better name, the acronym A.I.D. has stuck.

   I checked "AIDS" in OED, and the first citation is 24 September 1982.  This seems late.
   The NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE is mentioned in the NEW YORK article.  The NEJOM issue of 10 December 1981 was devoted to the disease, and it probably pays to look at the full text, specifically pages 1439-1444.  A letter on 11 February 1982 was titled "Family secrets: who is to know about AID?"
   (Medline gave this abstract, but not full text for 1981/1982.)