The Ice Bucket Challenge, sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, is an activity involving the pouring of a bucket of ice water over a person's head, either by another person or self-administered, to promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as motor neuron disease or Lou Gehrig's disease) and encourage donations to research. The challenge was co-founded by Pat Quinn and Pete Frates; it went viral on social media during July–August 2014. In the United States, many people participated for the ALS Association, and in the United Kingdom, many people participated for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, although some individuals opted to donate their money from the Ice Bucket Challenge to other organizations. The challenge encourages nominated participants to be filmed having a bucket of ice water poured on their heads and then nominating others to do the same. A common stipulation is that nominated participants have 24 hours to comply or forfeit by way of a charitable financial donation. On August 1, 2015, a group of ALS organizations in the United States, including the ALS Association, Les Turner ALS Foundation, and ALS Therapy Development Institute, re-introduced the Ice Bucket Challenge for 2015 to raise further funds with the intention of establishing it as an annual occurrence. It failed to raise the same viral attention as the 2014 event, which raised over $220M worldwide for the disease. However some people—including celebrities and various government officials around the world—have followed through with the intention of a yearly event by continuing to perform the challenge again each subsequent summer. History Predecessors From 1991 to early 2014, a challenge of unknown origin often called the "Cold Water Challenge" became popular on social media in areas of the Northern United States and Northern Norway. The task usually involved the option of either donating money to cancer research or having to jump into cold water. In Norway the penalty for refusal could also be having to purchase alcoholic drinks for others. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Ice Bucket Challenge was begun by professional golfers as means to support various pet charities. One version of the challenge, which took place in Salem, Indiana, as early as May 15, 2014, involved dousing participants with cold water and then donating to a charity, for example a local child diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. In another version, the Auckland Division of