Although there has been a great amount of progress in the 25 years since the first reporting of the cDNA for IL‐1α and IL‐1β, the history of IL‐1 goes back to the early 1940s. In fact, the entire field of inflammatory cytokines, TLR and the innate immune response can be found in the story of IL‐1. This Viewpoint follows the steps from the identification of the fever‐inducing activities of “soluble factors” produced by endotoxin‐stimulated leukocytes through to the discovery of cryopyrin and the caspase‐1 inflammasome and on to the clinical benefits of anti‐IL‐1β‐based therapeutics. It also discusses some of the current controversies regarding the activation of the inflammasome. The future of novel anti‐inflammatory agents to combat chronic inflammation is based, in part, on the diseases that are uniquely responsive to anti‐IL‐1β, which is surely a reason to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the cloning of IL‐1α and IL‐1β.