The origin of AIDS and HIV has puzzled scientists ever since the illness first came to light in the early 1980s. For over twenty years it has been the subject of fierce debate and the cause of countless arguments, with everything from a promiscuous flight attendant to a suspect vaccine programme being blamed. So what is the truth? Just where did AIDS come from?
The first recognised cases of AIDS occurred in the USA in the early 1980s. A number of gay men in New York and California suddenly began to develop rare opportunistic infections and cancers that seemed stubbornly resistant to any treatment. At this time, AIDS did not yet have a name, but it quickly became obvious that all the men were suffering from a common syndrome.
The discovery of HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, was made soon after. While some were initially resistant to acknowledge the connection (and indeed some remain so today), there is now clear evidence to prove that HIV causes AIDS. So, in order to find the source of AIDS, it is necessary to look for the origin of HIV, and find out How, When and Where HIV first began to cause disease in humans.
HOW?
What type of virus is HIV?
HIV is a lentivirus, and like all viruses of this type, it attacks the immune system. Lentiviruses are in turn part of a larger group of viruses known as retroviruses. The name 'lentivirus' literally means 'slow virus' because they take such a long time to produce any adverse effects in the body. They have been found in a number of different animals, including cats, sheep, horses and cattle. However, the most interesting lentivirus in terms of the investigation into the origins of HIV is the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) that affects monkeys.
So did HIV come from an SIV?
It is now generally accepted that HIV is a descendant of a Simian Immunodeficiency Virus because certain strains of SIVs bear a very close resemblance to HIV-1 and HIV-2, the two types of HIV.
HIV-2 for example corresponds to SIVsm, a strain of the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus found in the sooty mangabey (also known as the White-collared monkey), which is indigenous to western Africa.
The more virulent, pandemic strain of HIV, namely HIV-1, was until recently more difficult to place. Until 1999, the closest counterpart that had been identified was SIVcpz, the SIV found in chimpanzees. However, this virus still had certain significant differences from HIV.
What happened in 1999?
In February 1999 a group of researchers from the University of Alabama1 announced that they had found a type of SIVcpz that was almost identical to HIV-1. This particular strain was identified in a frozen sample taken from a captive member of the sub-group of chimpanzees known as Pan troglodytes troglodytes (P. t. troglodytes), which were once common in west-central Africa.
The researchers (led by Paul Sharp of Nottingham University and Beatrice Hahn of the University of Alabama) made the discovery during the course of a 10-year long study into the origins of the virus. They claimed that this sample proved that chimpanzees were the source of HIV-1, and that the virus had at some point crossed species from chimps to humans.
Their final findings were published two years later in Nature magazine2. In this article, they concluded that wild chimps had been infected simultaneously with two different simian immunodeficiency viruses which had "viral sex" to form a third virus that could be passed on to other chimps and, more significantly, was capable of infecting humans and causing AIDS.
These two different viruses were traced back to a SIV that infected red-capped mangabeys and one found in greater spot-nosed monkeys. They believe that the hybridisation took place inside chimps that had become infected with both strains of SIV after they hunted and killed the two smaller species of monkey.
They also concluded that all three 'groups' of HIV-1 - namely Group M, N and O (see our strains and subtypes page for more information on these) - came from the SIV found in P. t. troglodytes, and that each group represented a separate crossover 'event' from chimps to humans.
How could HIV have crossed species?
It has been known for a long time that certain viruses can pass between species. Indeed, the very fact that chimpanzees obtained SIV from two other species of primate shows just how easily this crossover can occur. As animals ourselves, we are just as susceptible. When a viral transfer between animals and humans takes place, it is known as zoonosis.
Below are some of the most common theories about how this 'zoonosis' took place, and how SIV became HIV in humans:
The 'Hunter' Theory
The most commonly accepted theory is that of the 'hunter'. In this scenario, SIVcpz was transferred to humans as a result of chimps being killed and eaten or their blood getting into cuts or wounds on the hunter. Normally the hunter's body would have fought off SIV, but on a few occasions it adapted itself within its new human host and become HIV-1. The fact that there were several different early strains of HIV, each with a slightly different genetic make-up (the most common of which was HIV-1 group M), would support this theory: every time it passed from a chimpanzee to a man, it would have developed in a slightly different way within his body, and thus produced a slightly different strain.
An article published in The Lancet in 20043, also shows how retroviral transfer from primates to hunters is still occurring even today. In a sample of 1099 individuals in Cameroon , they discovered ten (1%) were infected with SFV (Simian Foamy Virus), an illness which, like SIV, was previously thought only to infect primates. All these infections were believed to have been acquired through the butchering and consumption of monkey and ape meat. Discoveries such as this have led to calls for an outright ban on bushmeat hunting to prevent simian viruses being passed to humans.
The Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) theory
Some other rather controversial theories have contended that HIV was transferred iatrogenically (i.e. via medical interventions). One particularly well-publicised idea is that polio vaccines played a role in the transfer.
In his book, The River, the journalist Edward Hooper suggests that HIV can be traced to the testing of an oral polio vaccine called Chat, given to about a million people in the Belgian Congo, Ruanda and Urundi in the late 1950s. To be reproduced, live polio vaccine needs to be cultivated in living tissue, and Hooper's belief is that Chat was grown in kidney cells taken from local chimps infected with SIVcmz. This, he claims, would have resulted in the contamination of the vaccine with chimp SIV, and a large number of people subsequently becoming infected with HIV-1.
Many people have contested Hooper's theories and insist that local chimps were not infected with a strain of SIVcmz that is closely linked to HIV. Furthermore, the oral administration of the vaccine would seem insufficient to cause infection in most people (SIV/HIV needs to get directly into the bloodstream to cause infection - the lining of the mouth and throat generally act as good barriers to the virus).4
In February 2000 the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia (one of the original manufacturers of the Chat vaccine) announced that it had discovered in its stores a phial of polio vaccine that had been used as part of the program. The vaccine was subsequently analysed and in April 2001 it was announced that no trace had been found of either HIV or chimpanzee SIV.5 A second analysis confirmed that only macaque monkey kidney cells, which cannot be infected with SIV or HIV, were used to make Chat.6 While this is just one phial of many, it means that the OPV theory remains unproven.
The fact that the OPV theory accounts for just one (group M) of several different groups of HIV also suggests that transferral must have happened in other ways too, as does the fact that HIV seems to have existed in humans before the vaccine trials were ever carried out. More about when HIV came into being can be found below.
The Contaminated Needle Theory
This is an extension of the original 'hunter' theory. In the 1950s, the use of disposable plastic syringes became commonplace around the world as a cheap, sterile way to administer medicines. However, to African healthcare professionals working on inoculation and other medical programmes, the huge quantities of syringes needed would have been very costly. It is therefore likely that one single syringe would have been used to inject multiple patients without any sterilisation in between. This would rapidly have transferred any viral particles (within a hunter's blood for example) from one person to another, creating huge potential for the virus to mutate and replicate in each new individual it entered, even if the SIV within the original person infected had not yet converted to HIV.
The Colonialism Theory
The colonialism or 'Heart of Darkness' theory, is one of the more recent theories to have entered into the debate. It is again based on the basic 'hunter' premise, but more thoroughly explains how this original infection could have led to an epidemic. It was first proposed in 2000 by Jim Moore, an American specialist in primate behaviour, who published his findings in the journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses.7
During the late 19th and early 20th century, much of Africa was ruled by colonial forces. In areas such as French Equatorial Africa and the Belgian Congo, colonial rule was particularly harsh and many Africans were forced into labour camps where sanitation was poor, food was scarce and physical demands were extreme. These factors alone would have been sufficient to create poor health in anyone, so SIV could easily have infiltrated the labour force and taken advantage of their weakened immune systems to become HIV. A stray and perhaps sick chimpanzee with SIV would have made a welcome extra source of food for the workers.
Moore also believes that many of the labourers would have been inoculated with unsterile needles against diseases such as smallpox (to keep them alive and working), and that many of the camps actively employed prostitutes to keep the workers happy, creating numerous possibilities for onward transmission. A large number of labourers would have died before they even developed the first symptoms of AIDS, and those that did get sick would not have stood out as any different in an already disease-ridden population. Even if they had been identified, all evidence (including medical records) that the camps existed was destroyed to cover up the fact that a staggering 50% of the local population were wiped out there.
One final factor Moore uses to support his theory, is the fact that the labour camps were set up around the time that HIV was first believed to have passed into humans - the early part of the 20th century.
The Conspiracy Theory
Some say that HIV is a 'conspiracy theory' or that it is 'man-made'. A recent survey carried out in the US for example, identified a significant number of African Americans who believe HIV was manufactured as part of a biological warfare programme, designed to wipe out large numbers of black and homosexual people.8 Many say this was done under the auspices of the US federal 'Special Cancer Virus Program' (SCVP), possibly with the help of the CIA. Linked in to this theory is the belief that the virus was spread (either deliberately or inadvertently) to thousands of people all over the world through the smallpox inoculation programme, or to gay men through Hepatitis B vaccine trials. While none of these theories can be definitively disproved, the evidence given to back them up is usually based upon supposition and speculation, and ignores the clear link between SIV and HIV or the fact that the virus has been identified in people as far back as 1959.
WHEN?
During the last few years it has become possible not only to determine whether HIV is present in a blood or plasma sample, but also to determine the particular subtype of the virus. Studying the subtype of virus of some of the earliest known instances of HIV infection can help to provide clues about the time it first appeared in humans and its subsequent evolution.
Four of the earliest known instances of HIV infection are as follows:
1. A plasma sample taken in 1959 from an adult male living in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.9
2. A lymph node sample taken in 1960 from an adult female, also from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.10
3. HIV found in tissue samples from an American teenager who died in St. Louis in 1969.11
4. HIV found in tissue samples from a Norwegian sailor who died around 1976.12
A 1998 analysis of the plasma sample from 1959 suggested that HIV-1 was introduced into humans around the 1940s or the early 1950s.13
In January 2000, the results of a new study14 suggested that the first case of HIV-1 infection occurred around 1931 in West Africa. This estimate (which had a 15 year margin of error) was based on a complex computer model of HIV's evolution.
However, a study in 200815 dated the origin of HIV to between 1884 and 1924, much earlier than previous estimates. The researchers compared the viral sequence from 1959 (the oldest known HIV-1 specimen) to the newly discovered sequence from 1960. They found a significant genetic difference between them, demonstrating diversification of HIV-1 occurred long before the AIDS pandemic was recognised.
The authors suggest a long history of the virus in Africa and call Kinshasa the “epicentre of the HIV/AIDS pandemic” in West Africa. They propose the early spread of HIV was concurrent with the development of colonial cities, in which crowding of people increased opportunities for transmission. If accurate, these findings imply that HIV existed before many scenarios (such as the OPV and conspiracy theories) suggest.
What about HIV-2? When did that get passed to humans?
Until recently, the origins of the HIV-2 virus had remained relatively unexplored. HIV-2 is thought to come from the SIV in Sooty Mangabeys rather than chimpanzees, but the crossover to humans is believed to have happened in a similar way (i.e. through the butchering and consumption of monkey meat). It is far rarer, significantly less infectious and progresses more slowly to AIDS than HIV-1. As a result, it infects far fewer people, and is mainly confined to a few countries in West Africa.
In May 2003, a group of Belgian researchers led by Dr. Anne-Mieke Vandamme, published a report16 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. By analysing samples of the two different subtypes of HIV-2 (A and B) taken from infected individuals and SIV samples taken from sooty mangabeys, Dr Vandamme concluded that subtype A had passed into humans around 1940 and subtype B in 1945 (plus or minus 16 years or so). Her team of researchers also discovered that the virus had originated in Guinea-Bissau and that its spread was most likely precipitated by the independence war that took place in the country between 1963 and 1974 (Guinea-Bissau is a former Portuguese colony). Her theory was backed up by the fact that the first European cases of HIV-2 were discovered among Portuguese veterans of the war, many of whom had received blood transfusions or unsterile injections following injury, or had possibly had relationships with local women.
WHERE?
The question of exactly where the transfer of HIV to humans took place, and where the 'epidemic' officially first developed has always been controversial. Some have suggested that it is dangerous to even try to find out, as AIDS has frequently been blamed on an innocent person or group of individuals in the past. However, scientists remain keen to find the true origin of HIV, as most agree it is important to understand the virus and its epidemiology in order to fight it.
So did it definitely come from Africa?
Given the evidence we have already looked at, it seems highly likely that Africa was indeed the continent where the transfer of HIV to humans first occurred (monkeys from Asia and South America have never been found to have SIVs that could cause HIV in humans). In May 2006, the same group of researchers who first identified the Pan troglodytes troglodytes strain of SIVcpz, announced that they had narrowed down the location of this particular strain to wild chimpanzees found in the forests of Southern Cameroon17. By analysing 599 samples of chimp droppings (P. T. troglodytes are a highly endangered and thus protected species that cannot be killed or captured for testing), the researchers were able to obtain 34 specimens that reacted to a standard HIV DNA test, 12 of which gave results that were virtually indistinguishable from the reactions created by human HIV. The researchers therefore concluded that the chimpanzees found in this area were highly likely the origin of both the pandemic Group M of HIV-1 and of the far rarer Group N. The exact origins of Group O however remain unknown.
HIV Group N principally affects people living in South-central Cameroon, so it is not difficult to see how this outbreak started. Group M, the group that has caused the worldwide pandemic, was however first identified in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is not entirely clear how it transferred from Cameroon to Kinshasa, but the most likely explanation is that an infected individual travelled south down the Sangha river that runs through Southern Cameroon to the River Congo and then on to Kinshasa, where the Group M epidemic probably began.
Just as we do not know exactly who spread the virus from Cameroon to Kinshasa, how the virus spread from Africa to America is also not entirely clear. However, recent evidence suggests that the virus may have arrived via the Caribbean island of Haiti.
Why is Haiti significant?
The AIDS epidemic in Haiti first came to light in the early 1980s, at around the same time that cases in the USA were being uncovered. Following the discovery of a number of Haitians with Kaposi's Sarcoma and other AIDS-related conditions, medical journals and books began to claim that AIDS had come from Haiti, and that Haitians were responsible for the AIDS epidemic in the United States.
These claims, which were often founded on dubious evidence, fuelled pre-existing racism in the US and many Haitians suffered severe discrimination and stigmatisation as a result. A large number of Haitian immigrants living in the US lost their jobs and were evicted from their homes as Haitians were added to homosexuals, haemophiliacs and heroin users to make the 'Four-H Club' of groups at high risk of AIDS.18
The emotionally-charged culture of blame and prejudice that surrounded HIV and AIDS in the early years meant that it soon became politically difficult to present epidemiological findings in a neutral and objective way. For many years the link between Haiti and the US epidemic was therefore dropped as a subject.
In March 2007 however, it returned to the public eye at the Fourteenth Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Los Angeles. A group of international scientists presented data based on complex genetic analysis of 122 early samples of HIV-1, group M, subtype B (the most common strain found in the USA and in Haiti) showing that the strain had probably been brought to Haiti from Africa by a single person in around 1966; a time when many Haitians would have been returning from working in the Congo.19
Genetic analysis then showed that subtype B spread slowly from person to person on the island, before being transferred to the US, again probably by a single individual, at some point between 1969 and 1972. A paper published in October 2007 by Worobey and colleagues gave a 99.7% certainty that HIV subtype B originated in Haiti before passing to the US.20
It is possible that HIV had entered the US several times before subtype B took a firm hold (which would explain the infection of the St. Louis teenager in the early to mid-1960s), but it was the late 1960s / early 1970s transfer that is believed to be responsible for the widespread epidemic seen in the US today. Once the virus had established itself in the gay community, in would have spread fairly rapidly (anal intercourse carries a very high transmission risk), with transmission occurring within and between the US and Haiti, and internationally, until the original route taken by the virus was largely obscured.
Dr Michael Worobey, lead researcher in the study, claimed that his data was not intended to place any blame on Haiti, or on Central Africans, and stressed that none of the people who first transmitted HIV would have been aware they were infected. His work still received strong protests from one Haitian delegate at the CROI conference however, demonstrating the extent to which tracing HIV’s origins remains a politically sensitive exercise.
What caused the epidemic to spread so suddenly?
There are a number of factors that may have contributed to the sudden spread of HIV, most of which occurred in the latter half of the twentieth century.
Travel
Both national and international travel undoubtedly had a major role in the initial spread of HIV. In the US, international travel by young men making the most of the gay sexual revolution of the late 70s and early 80s would certainly have played a large part in taking the virus worldwide. In Africa, the virus would probably have been spread along truck routes and between towns and cities within the continent itself. However, it is quite conceivable that some of the early outbreaks in African nations were not started by Africans infected with the 'original' virus at all, but by people visiting from overseas where the epidemic had been growing too. The process of transmission in a global pandemic is simply too complex to blame on any one group or individual.
Much was made in the early years of the epidemic of a so-called 'Patient Zero' who was the basis of a complex "transmission scenario" compiled by Dr. William Darrow and colleagues at the Centre for Disease Control in the US. This epidemiological study showed how 'Patient O' (mistakenly identified in the press as 'Patient Zero') had given HIV to multiple partners, who then in turn transmitted it to others and rapidly spread the virus to locations all over the world. A journalist, Randy Shilts, subsequently wrote a book21 based on Darrow's findings, which named Patient Zero as a gay Canadian flight attendant called Gaetan Dugas. For several years, Dugas was vilified as a 'mass spreader' of HIV and the original source of the HIV epidemic among gay men. However, four years after the publication of Shilts' article, Dr. Darrow repudiated his study, admitting its methods were flawed and that Shilts' had misrepresented its conclusions.
While Gaetan Dugas was a real person who did eventually die of AIDS, the Patient Zero story was not much more than myth and scaremongering. HIV in the US was to a large degree initially spread by gay men, but this occurred on a huge scale over many years, probably a long time before Dugas even began to travel.
The Blood Industry
As blood transfusions became a routine part of medical practice, an industry to meet this increased demand for blood began to develop rapidly. In some countries such as the USA , donors were paid to give blood, a policy that often attracted those most desperate for cash; among them intravenous drug users. In the early stages of the epidemic, doctors were unaware of how easily HIV could be spread and blood donations remained unscreened. This blood was then sent worldwide, and unfortunately most people who received infected donations went on to become HIV positive themselves.
In the late 1960's haemophiliacs also began to benefit from the blood clotting properties of a product called Factor VIII. However, to produce this coagulant, blood from hundreds of individual donors had to be pooled. This meant that a single donation of HIV+ blood could contaminate a huge batch of Factor VIII. This put thousands of haemophiliacs all over the world at risk of HIV, and many subsequently became infected with the virus.
Drug Use
The 1970s saw an increase in the availability of heroin following the Vietnam War and other conflicts in the Middle East , which helped stimulate a growth in intravenous drug use. This increased availability and together with the development of disposable plastic syringes and the establishment of 'shooting galleries' where people could buy drugs and rent equipment, provided another route through which the virus could be passed on.
CONCLUSIONS
It is likely that we will never know who the first person was to be infected with HIV, or exactly how it spread from that initial person. Scientists investigating the possibilities often become very attached to their individual 'pet' theories and insist that theirs is the only true answer, but the spread of AIDS could quite conceivably have been induced by a combination of many different events. Whether through injections, travel, wars, colonial practices or genetic engineering, the realities of the 20th Century have undoubtedly had a major role to play. Nevertheless, perhaps a more pressing concern for scientists today should not be how the AIDS epidemic originated, but how those it affects can be treated, how the further spread of HIV can be prevented and how the world can change to ensure a similar pandemic never occurs again.
From: http://www.avert.org/origins.htm
The origin of AIDS - HIV and the first cases of AIDS
World Cup History - Jules Rimet Cup
The World Cup (The Golden Nike) was founded in 1930 by Frenchman Jules Rimet, the creator of tWorld Cup History - Jules Rimet Cuphe world championship games. The cup was designed and made by a French sculptor, Abel Lafleur. 30 cm in height, weighing 1,82 kg and made of pure gold, the sculpture depicted Nike of Samothrace (Winged Victory). In 1950 the statuette was named the Jules Rimet Cup after its founder. It was a trophy passed on to each winner and the team to win the tournament three times got to keep it (Brazil achieved this in 1970). In 1983 the Cup was stolen and it has never been found. The tournament using Jules Rimet Cup was organized for a total of 9 times from 1930 to 1970. The tournament is being organized once in every four years.
The FIFA World Cup was founded in 1971. It was designed by Silvio Gazzanigi of Italy. Made of 18-caratWorld Cup History - World Cup Trophy gold and malachite, the cup is 36 cm tall and weighs 5 kg. The sculpture depicts two triumphant football players holding a globe in their raised hands. The trophy is passed on to each winning team that gets to keep an identical (but gold-plated) replica. The making of the statue cost about $50,000, today its value is estimated to over $10,000,000. The World Cup trophy that being used today has been staged for 8 times from 1974 until now.
1st. World Cup (Uruguay, 1930): At the 1929 FIFA congress, Uruguay was chosen to arrange World Cup History - Uruguay 1930the first ever World Cup to honor its achievements in sports. Uruguay, the reigning Olympic Champions, was chosen ahead of a quartet of European countries including Italy and Spain. Even though Uruguay offers to pay all team expenses, only four European countries makes the three week trip to South America. The hosts builds a fantastic stadium in Montevideo that can hold 95,000. The Stadium is finished five days after the World Cup has started! The World Cup Champions were to receive what today is known as "The Jules Rimet trophy".
2nd. World Cup (Italy, 1934): Italy was the hosts for the 1934 World-Cup. Uruguay, who won the preWorld Cup History - Italy 1934vious tournament in 1930, surprisingly did not participate. So immediately one of the main attractions was missing. This was the first and last time the previous winners did not show up for the next championships. There was 16 teams took part in the tournament. Argentina and Brazil took part, but booth with average teams. Therefore the Europeans and especially were favorites for the title. With the fascist dictator Mussolini behind his team, everything was set up for Italy. Players such as Orsi, Monti, and De Maria from Argentina were drafted into the Italian squad after it was found they had double nationalities. The championships was no victory for football, but Mussolini and the Italians were pleased with the outcome.
3rd. World Cup (France, 1938): The World-Cup grew more and more, and in tWorld Cup History - France 1938he third championships, there were 36 nations involved. Norway reached the finals for the first time. The last championships were won by the hosts, but that was to change. Again were Italy the winners. This tournament the football was played in a more mature and collective way, with more speed and technical play. Three players stood out above others, Meazza, Ferrari and Fiola. The draw for the first round was done in Paris on March 5. 1938.
4th. World Cup (Brazil, 1950): European teams from countries most affected by World War II (among others the Polish team) didn't enter the qualifiers. The silver medalists of the last championships, Hungary, World Cup History - Brazil 1950Czechoslovakia and Argentina didn't participate either. Most countries in the world used the years 1945-50 to rebuild their countries. As Usual, Brazil was the biggest favorite of the tournament. Uruguay could not be written off, they had won three championships in a row (OL-24, OL-28, VC-30), and had since not participated in following tournaments. The final between Brazil and Uruguay was played in front of amazing 203 000 people. Brazil had impressed everyone in the early stages and took the lead 1-0. Uruguay could hardly get out of their own half, but still managed to score 2 goals. One of the biggest upsets in football history.
5th. World Cup (Switzerland, 1954): Wankdorf stadium in Bern, 4. July 1954: Hungarys magicalWorld Cup History - Switzerland 1954 “Magyars”, who were undefeated in 31 games over 4 years, met West-Germany in the final of the 5th World-Cup. Just two weeks ago, Hungary had defeated West-Germany by 8-3 in a group game. Unluckily, this time they lost 3-2 to the confusion of all football lovers. This legendary team who many regard as one of the best ever never would become world champions. After the World-Cup they continued to win and win until thousands of Russian tanks rolled into Budapest in November 1956. The end of an era.
6th. World Cup (Sweden, 1958): Garrincha, Didi, Gilmar, Zito and Pele were just some of Brazils World Cup History - Sweden 1958stars in 1958, who rewrote the history books. Hundreds of Swedish flooded to the Brazilian training ground to catch a glimpse of their ball control and tecnique. This championship would be the breakthrough for a 17 year old boy from Sao-Paulo, Pele. This young man amazed the world with his skills and goals. In the final against the hosts, Brazil won 5-2 with Pele scoring 2 of the goals. The semi final and final together he scored 5 goals! Arguably footballs biggest star was born.
7th. World Cup (Chile, 1962): It was expected that Peles Brazil would defend their title. They did, but to the most without Pele. After scoring in the opening match, he was injured and did not play the rest of the tournament. Brazil met Czechoslovakia in the final and won easily. Even without Pele, Brazil was too strong for the rest of the football world. Teams such as England and West-Germany were in the process of building new teams. Whereas Argentina, Italy and Uruguay were mostly keen on fighting than playing football.
8th. WWorld Cup History - England 1966orld Cup (England, 1966): England will win the World-Cup on home soil, said the English manager Alf Ramsey. The games founders had been in 4 previous tournaments, but with disappointment. In 66 they started slowly with a draw against Uruguay, but slowly found form as the tournament went on. At last in this tournament, they stood as winners, and Ramsey a national hero. The victory was not only popular and deserved, but also controversial. The scoring that decided the final is still discussed to this day!!!
9th. World Cup (Mexico, 1970): Many believe that the 1970 World-Cup was the best ever playWorld Cup History - Mexico 1970ed, and inspired millions of kids to start playing. It was a championship where different styles came against each other. As proved in the final where the passing and skillful Brazilians met the tactical and physical Italians. Football won that day as Brazil won 4-1 playing some of the best football ever seen. Again Pele was inspirational along with Jairzinho, Gerson, Felix and Carlos Alberto. They showed the world how football should be played. 1970 proved to be the farewell to who many regard as the greatest, Pele.
From: http://www.all-soccer-info.com/World_Cup_History.htm
Soccer History
The origin of football / soccer can be found in every corner of geography and history. The ChineSoccer Historyse, Japanese, Italian, Ancient Greek, Persian, Viking, and many more played a ball game long before our era. The Chinese played "football" games date as far back as 3000 years ago. The Ancient Greeks and the Roman used football games to sharpen warriors for battle. In south and Central America a game called "Tlatchi" once flourished.
But it was in England that soccer / football really begin to take shape. It all started in 1863 in England, when two football association (association football and rugby football) split off on their different course. Therefore, the first Football Association was founded in England.
On October 1963, eleven London clubs and schools sent their representatives to the Freemason's Tavern. These representatives were intent on clarifying the muddle by establishing a set of fundamental rules, acceptSoccer History - Rugbyable to all parties, to govern the matches played amongst them. This meeting marked the birth of The Football Association. The eternal dispute concerning shin-kicking, tripping and carrying the ball was discussed thoroughly at this and consecutive meetings until eventually on 8 December the die-hard exponents of the Rugby style took their final leave. They were in the minority anyway. They wanted no part in a game that forbade tripping, shin-kicking and carrying the ball. A stage had been reached where the ideals were no longer compatible. On 8 December 1863, football and rugby finally split. Their separation became totally irreconcilable six years hence when a provision was included in the football rules forbidding any handling of the ball (not only carrying it). soccer history - Football Association
Only eight years after its foundation, The Football Association already had 50 member clubs. The first football competition in the world was started in the same year - the FA Cup, which preceded the League Championship by 17 years.
International matches were being staged in Great Britain before football had hardly been heard of in Europe. The first was played in 1872 and was contested by England and Scotland. This sudden boom of organized football accompanied by staggering crowds of spectators brought with it certain problems with which other countries were not confronted until much later on. Professionalism was one of them. The first moves in this direction came in 1879, when Darwin, a small Lancashire club, twice managed to draw against the supposedly invincible Old Etonians in the FA Cup, before the famous team of London amateurs finally scraped through to win at the third attempt. Two Darwin players, the Scots John Love and Fergus Suter, are reported as being the first players ever to receive remuneration for their football talent. This practice grew rapidly and the Football Association found itself obliged to legalise professionalism as early as 1885. This development predated the formation of any national association outside of Great Britain (namely, in the Netherlands and Denmark) by exactly four years.
After the English Football Association, the next oldest are the Scottish FA (1873), the FA of Wales (1875) and the Irish FA (1880). Strictly speaking, at the time of the first international match, England had no other partner association against which to play. When Scotland played England in Glasgow on 30 November 1872, the Scottish FA did not even exist - it was not founded for another three months. The team England played that day was actually the oldest Scottish club team, Queen's Park.
The spread of football outside of England, mainly due to the British influence abroad, started slow, but it soon gathered momentum and spread rapidly to all parts of the world. The next countries to form football associations after the Netherlands and Denmark in 1889 were New Zealand (1891), Argentina (1893), Chile (1895), Switzerland, Belgium (1895), Italy (1898), Germany, Uruguay (both in 1900), Hungary (1901) and Finland (1907). When FIFA was founded in Paris in May 1904 it had seven founder members: France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain (represented by the Madrid FC), Sweden and Switzerland. The German Football Federation cabled its intention to join on the same day.
This international football community grew steadily, although it sometimes met with obstacles and setbacks. In 1912, 21 national associations were already affiliated to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). By 1925, the number had increased to 36, in 1930 - the year of the first World Cup - it was 41, in 1938, 51 and in 1950, after the interval caused by the Second World War, the number had reached 73. At present, after the 2000 Ordinary FIFA Congress, FIFA has 204 members in every part of the world.
From: http://www.all-soccer-info.com/
A History of Poker
It is not clear exactly how poker came into existence. Some believe it came out of Chinese dominoes. There is some research to suggest that the Chinese transferred dominoes to thick paper, or cards, around the year 1000 A.D. Poker may also be a descendent of a card game called Ganjifa that was developed in India.
As-Nas in Persia
However, a seventeenth century Persian game called "As Nas" is probably the direct ancestor of Poker. As-Nas requires five players and a deck of 25 cards with 5 suits. It has great similarity to poker; two cards are dealt, followed by a round of betting; then two more cards and another round of betting. There is then a final card, and a last round of betting. The winner is the player with the highest ranked card.
French soldiers may have learned this game and brought it home, because the French developed a bluffing and betting game called "poque." Poque is said to be the first card game to use of a deck consisting of the modern suits.
A German game called "pochen" (or "pochspiel ") and an English game called "Bragg" are also related. (Pochen is the German word for "bluffing.") French settlers apparently brought poque to the New Orleans in the Louisiana Territory.
Modern Poker Came Out of New Orleans
It was in New Orleans and on the riverboats that called on the city that modern poker was developed. The early 19th century game was played with only twenty cards, using four suits from ace to ten. Each player was dealt five cards. It quickly became the most popular game on the Mississippi and Ohio riverboats, and traveled west by wagon and train. Stud poker, the draw, and the straight came about during the time of the American Civil War. The joker made was first used as a wild card in the last part of the 19th century.
The 52-card deck came into general use in the United States during the 1830s, and poker rules became standardized as rule books were developed. The game came into its own in the Old West. Poker soon overcame faro as the saloon favorite, as sharp players discovered how quickly they could get rich from it. Doc Holliday and Wild Bill Hickock, both of whom sometimes earned a living by playing cards, often had to relocate after poker disputes. Poker would be the last game Hickock played; on Aug. 2, 1876, in Deadwood, South Dakota, Hickock was shot by a man named Jack McCall. Wild Bill's cards, a two-pair hand of black eights and black aces, plus a fifth card, became known as the Dead Man's Hand.
From: http://www.gamblingorigins.com/gambling-history-poker.shtml
The History of Gambling
Gambling has existed since ancient times, and there is evidence that most cultures supported it in some form or another.
Implements associated with the practice of gambling have been found in ancient China sites dating back to about 2300 B.C. A pair of ivory dice made sometime before 1500 B.C. have been found in Egypt. In fact, writings mentioning gambling have been discovered on a tablet in one of the pyramids at Giza. Inhabitants of ancient India, Greece and Rome also practiced some form of gambling.
A Place in History
Gambling has played a role in the history of nations. Around the year 1,000 A.D., King Olaf of Norway and King Olaf of Sweden are said to have come together to decide on the ownership of the district of Hising, a relatively isolated area claimed by both countries. Because the dispute could not be resolved diplomatically, the two kings agreed to roll a pair of dice. On their first rolls, both kings got double six; on their second rolls, the Swedish king came up with two sixes and the Norwegian king rolled six on the first die. The second, however, is said to have cracked showed seven. Norway received the territory, and the two kings reportedly departed on good terms.
We find that gambling was so popular during the Middle Ages that some countries prohibited their soldiers from participating in games, since the gambling activities prevented them from carrying out their proper duties. King Henry VIII of England, for example, is said to have banned gambling when he determined that his soldiers were devoting more time to gambling and less time to working on drills and marksmanship.
Playing Cards
Playing cards may have developed in China, since the Chinese developed both paper and money made from paper. In fact, the Chinese are said to have come up with the practice of shuffling paper money about 900 A.D. This may have evolved into the practice of shuffling cards. Playing cards then apparently spread to the Mameluke Empire. Since the Mamelukes were Muslim, they did not decorate their playing cards with human forms; instead, their cards were decorated with intricate designs. When the cards made their way to the Mediterranean countries, card makers began distinguishing cards with the royal ranks of noblemen who frequented the royal court. The French took out one of the men and added a queen card sometime in the 1500s. This "French Pack" of cards became the prototype of the 52-card deck we use today.
From: http://www.gamblingorigins.com/
Breakdance History
We're staring down, not quite believing what we're seeing, at an athletic young man -- known to the cognizanti as a b-boy -- spinning on his head like a child's toy, a whirling top with arms, legs and torso.
A group of his friends are gathered in a loose circle around him, urging him on to ever greater, more elaborate, gyrations. Bass-heavy music, perhaps something by James Brown, whose 1969 song "Get On The Good Foot" inspired a lot of it, thumps out of a boom box.
We're witnessing the birth of the break dance, right?
Wrong. The spectacular power moves we're seeing are a somewhat recent innovation -- introduced by the legendary break dancers "Rock Steady Crew" in the late '70s and early '80s -- in what is actually a rather ancient art form with roots extending far wider and deeper than circa-1960s Bronx and Brooklyn street people.
Though some experts trace the lineage of the break dance back to the Brazilian Frevo, a Russian folk-dance-influenced form of martial-arts dance/march, it seems more likely that breakin', while it did originate in Brazil approximately 500 years ago, was invented by African slaves rather than native Brazilians or their Portuguese rulers.
Their dance, still popular today, became known as the Capoeira and is, as far as we known, the first nationally and internationally recognized dance to combine upright fighting and shadow-boxing moves with groundwork.
Mentally fast forward through the centuries, travel northward some thousands of miles, and check out the "uprockers" on the streets of Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1967. Though the Uprock (a.k.a. Rocking), which features, among many other movements, burns (aggressive hand thrusts) and jerks (martial-arts-inspired body motions) is not a break dance as we envision it now, it is the true soul-beat precursor of the Toprock, which took Uprock routines, added transition moves sometimes known as the six-step, and finished with groundwork.
Today's break dancing began to come of age in 1969 and 1970 when disc jockey, record producer and visionary Afrika Bambaataa convinced the members of the Bronx street gang of which he was then the warlord to challenge rival gangs to battle with macho dance routines in lieu of guns and knives.
As the '70s evolved, more emphasis was placed on groundwork involving stylized leg movements (so-called Floor Rock or Down Rock) and moves were added and deleted as tastes in funk, soul and early hip hop music evolved. Still, the basic form of both rocking and breakdance "cutting" contests remained the same until the "Rock Steady Crew" and the "Electronic Boogaloo Lockers" (later renamed the "Electric Boogaloos") literally hit the streets of New York with the spectacular hand-gliding, back-spinning, windmilling, and head-spinning ground moves that have since become synonymous with the word breakdance.
The dance gained in worldwide popularity during the '80s and '90s with break-dance moves being incorporated into movies and musical theater productions and European and Asian aficionados adding their own exuberant spins and whirls to the mix.
From: http://centralhome.com/breakdance.htm
History of Argentine Tango
History of Argentine Tango
by Mike Higgins
When talking about the history of the Tango, the reader should consider that although their were many ‘influences’ in the creation and life of the Tango, it is very important not to assume that it was some form of linear development. So the idea that you start with this dance or piece of music and along comes this piece or step, and overnight the whole thing changes, is very wrong.
Whilst dances and music from around the world have had some influence, this rather detracts from the people who really created and evolved the Tango into its current form. These are the people of Buenos Aires, who in the bars, cafes and dance halls made the Tango, danced the Tango, lived, loved and occasionally died for the Tango.
It is the voice of the streets of Buenos Aires. Any suggestion that they may be dancing some sort of second hand steps or regurgitating music taken from Europe or Africa must be rejected as some what insulting to all the great milongueros who have danced and innovated down though years. It is equally insulting to the great Tango maestros who have drawn on their own life experiences when composing music.
The history of the development of the Tango in Buenos Aires requires the reader to take a journey back to when Buenos Aires was a large settlement, under the control of the declining Spanish Empire. The settlers were primarily Spanish immigrants and the slaves which were transported from Africa. (Buenos Aires - Good Winds in Spanish, but perhaps better translated as "Fair Winds", as in navigation)
However these settlers were for many years attacked and repulsed by the native peoples of the area. In 1541, the settlement was abandoned but re-established in 1580 on a permanent basis. Following this, there began a much larger battle for the area, which brought into play the Gaucho, the South American plains riders. Though initially thought of as the South American equivalent of the “cowboy”, in fact they were seen more as freedom fighters and fought fearlessly as a type of light cavalry. They carried out hit and run raids, usually as part of a private army for a local land owner or caudillos, local warlords in all but name.
On May 25, 1810, the citizens of Buenos Aires ousted the Spanish Viceroy and a provincial government was established. On July 9, 1816 independence from the Spanish Empire was declared but which was not recognized until 1862.
Shortly after, the interests of big business dictated that the pampas should be cleared of the native Indian population and the vast number of gauchos. 5 divisions of well armed troops were sent in under the control of General Julio Argentino Roca to effectively clear the plains of the Araucanian Indians and most of the gauchos. However, as with the industrial revolution in England, these now displaced people began to drift towards the rapidly growing city of Buenos Aires. In this drift came the Payadores, traveling musicians from the Gaucho stock. They would arrive at a bar, and begin to strum a simple tune with its base on the 4th string, and sing ad-libbed lyrics, usually obscene. It's possible that this had some native Indian rhythms or tunes. This does offer a fairly good explanation of the main input into the creation of the milonga, but by no means the only explanation.
The Africans, who had been brought across as slaves, had their own brand of rhythmic music. Most notably the Candombe, which was an athletic dance. No doubt, somewhere along the way, the Candombe met the payadore and his guitar. So may have been born the Milonga in a form more recognizable to the current generation. It is also possible that the Polka, Waltz, Mazurka and Schottische, also had an influence on the Milonga.
Almost certainly, the most important factor in the evolution of the Tango was the influence brought in by the Habanera, created in Havana, Cuba, and also known as the Andalusian Tango.
Unfortunately there is now insufficient information to assess exactly how this was originally danced. The Habanera was based on the concept of a ’walk’, the same as the Tango.
At some point the Milonga and The Habanera were fused to form the embryonic version of the Tango. At this point you have a dance which has influences from around the world.
From about 1880, large scale immigration, most of whom were men, increased the population Buenos Aires. One figure suggests that at one point the ratio may have been about 50 men for every woman.
Men tempted by the idea of a better life and streets paved with gold, instead found a lonely squalid place with muddy streets and poor accommodation. Often they were stranded on the outskirts of the city and everyday became a struggle to survive.
The one trade that flourished above all others was prostitution. A reflection of the hardships endured by the people, a way of survival for some, and a desperate means of earning income for others. It is unlikely the working girls saw much of the money. For many men, owning a woman who earned good money working in a brothel, became a status symbol.
It is here in the brothels and bordellos on the back streets of Buenos Aires, that the Tango really came to life. These illegal brothels, most became known as Academies de Dance, were the massage parlors of their day. The dance had to be simple, so if the police raided the joint (police which hadn't been bribed), there would appear to be "dancing instruction" going on.
It was the rise of the Compadritos and the Compadres who really launched the Tango. Compadritos - the street man, sometimes but not always, small time villains, petty criminals and pimps. Compadres - the local men of some means, sometimes shady dealings, slightly better off than the compadritos who tried to emulate them.
The dance probably started out as some form of acting out of the relationship between the prostitute and pimp. This was often reflected in the titles of the first tangos which referred to characters in the world of prostitution. It must also be noted that when written lyrics began to appear, women were often portrayed as evil temptresses, there to lead men into sin and degradation.
At this time, the dance was totally rejected be the upper class elite of Buenos Aires society, as a dirty street dance. Although, many of the young well-to-do gentlemen, would allegedly visit the ‘Dance Academies’ for instruction.
Around 1880, an new instrument arrived from Germany, the Bandoneon. A difficult instrument to master but its wailing sound caught the very feeling of the Tango. It became inextricably linked to the music of the Tango, from then to now.
From the early 1900, however, a new type of lyric began to appear. One recalling bygone times, often with a sad, melancholia, recalling wasted lives, lost loves, unrequited love, the missing of a mother, the missing of your barrios [district] or street but most all, the love of the Tango itself. The lyrics were written in the language of the streets of Buenos Aires, Lunfardo, a mixture of Spanish, Italian, Native Creole and words strangely twisted.
The change in the Tango lyrics may also have occurred at this time because it is thought that Tango was first demonstrated by the Argentinean playboy Ricardo Guiraldes in 1910/1911 in Paris. It was so different from the dances of the time and considered somewhat obscene. It challenged the conventions of acceptable public behavior of the time. The Comtesse Melainie de Pourtalis stated, upon seeing a demonstration of the dance in 1912, "Is one supposed to dance it standing up".
However, the rapid acceptance by the people of Europe of the dance, invariably meant that it was re-exported back to Buenos Aires. Now it was embraced by the upper classes, who had so vigorously opposed it only a few years early.
The dance was banned by the Pope after a private viewing, and Kaiser Wilhelm 1 forbade his officers to dance it whilst wearing their uniforms, effectively banning it from all state balls.
Yet the Tango survived, and evolved, thanks to the people of Buenos Aires. But its not the end of the story. In a way, the Tango is even more threatened today than in its early years. Why? Because of the creeping Europeanization of dance.
More than anything else, the Tango is about a connection, an empathy between two people, the need to embrace, and be in the arms of another, to escape, albeit for just a brief moment of time, and in that moment, to live a life time …
The Europeans and the North Americans have no connection to this concept. It is totally alien to them. They see the dance in terms of “how flashy can I be with the steps” and I want more steps, and more steps. All I want to do is impress the people standing around the edges of the dance floor. This is, in a way, the very antithesis of the concept of the Tango.
Tango must be simply danced, with immense feeling, with a sense of energy flowing between the dancers. This energy grows or decreases as the music ebbs and flows. It is a seduction, or a private conversation, something to be quietly shared, not publicly displayed.
From: http://centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/argentine-tango-history.htm
Argentine Tango History
Origins of Argentina Tango
by Bruno E. Romero
The antique Argentine Tango was influenced by the Tango Habanera, which bears no resemblance to the Argentine Tango we know today. The Tango Habanera came about from two types of Tango: the Milonga with its influence in the guajira flamenca and the Tango andaluz or Tango flamenco. The Milonga was danced and played by country side people of Argentina. The Tango Habanera was an amalgamation of the Habanera and the Tango Andaluz or Tango Flamenco.
The rhythm of the guitars playing the Tango flamenco or andaluz could not be reproduced in orchestra instruments and with the piano, so the Tango andaluz or flamenco was modified with the habanera rhythm. The Tango Habanera was heard in 1883 but died towards the end of the century. The Tango Habanera has been entirely associated with the first forms of Argentine Tango. The flexing of the knees is associated to a dance called Candombe which was danced by the black people from Africa living in Buenos Aires. The male Candombe dancers danced with their knees flexed, to show their dance skills using walking steps (corridas) and turns.
A character who lived in the very early 1900's known as the "compadrito" created the straightened out forms of the antique Argentine Tango and invented the traditional figures of this dance. His dance style and stance supported his macho view of his world at those times. The "compadrito" ironically imitated the Candombe Dancers along with their flexing of the knees, walking steps, and turns. Old Tango people agree that the true forms of Argentine Tango Dance that we see today originated in 1938 - 1940 with the short-lived Tango singer Carlos Gardel. The Golden Age of Tango took place in in the late 1940's and early 1950's. World recording companies set up offices in Buenos Aires, which resulted in mass recordings of Tango orchestras and singers.
The antique Argentine Tango was never danced with castanets or with a flower.
Today in Buenos Aires or Río de la Plata, there are three forms of Argentine Tango: Salón, Fantasía, and one for scenario (stage). This has been the norm. With the internationalization of Tango, other forces have been shaping the Tango dance. The form known for stage, sometimes is referred as "for export", was aimed at English speaking people. Outside Argentina, people from North America had their first exposure with Stage Tango brought by the show and dance companies from Buenos Aires. At the end of the shows, the people asked for classes on what they had seen on stage. They wanted to learn what they saw on stage. Some of the dancers were available to teach, but knew only show routines. Other times seasoned dancers from Buenos Aires were asked to teach. They found it very difficult to explain that the correct form was to learn Argentine Tango from Buenos Aires rather than what they had seen at the show or on stage.
References:
My references are mainly from Maria Carmen Silingo's books 1, 2, 3, and 4. She is a Profesora (accredited teacher) of Tango Argentino in Buenos Aires. Based on the very few historical records left to trace the roots of the Argentine Tango, most of the historical information contained in Silingo's books are from newspapers, books and her family roots and connection to the Argentine Tango music.
From: http://centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/argentino_tango.htm
History of Scotch
The First Bottle: History of Scotch
Scotch is one of the most consumed alcoholic beverages of all time, after all it has been around for hundred of years however, little thought is usually given to the actual origin of this popular drink. As the name suggests, Scotch was originally produced in Scotland by Friar John Cor. After distillation was introduced by Scottish monks in 1494, fine scotch became a popular drink.
To the dismay of Scotch and other whiskey drinkers, whiskey was first taxed in 1644. This caused a rise in the number of what we would today call “bootleggers” who made and sold Scotch whiskey illegally. Later in 1823, the Scottish Parliament made it easier for one to own a licensed distillery and harder for illegal whiskey stills to stay in business. This began the modern production of Scotch whiskey.
Today, fine scotch whiskey production is much more technologically advanced: It has to be in order to keep up with the demand for this popular drink. However, you won’t find fine Scotch made here in the U.S, in order to adorn the name “Scotch” the whiskey must be distilled and matured in Scotland.
10 Influential Thinkers in Psychology
The following list provides an overview of 10 psychologists from this ranking survey. These individuals are not only some of the best-known thinkers in psychology, they also played an important role in psychology's history and made important contributions to our understanding of human behavior. This list is not an attempt to identify who was the most influential or which school of thought was best. Instead, this list offers a glimpse of some of the theoretical outlooks that have influenced not only psychology, but also the larger culture in which we live.
1. B. F. Skinner
In the 2002 study ranking the 99 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century, B.F. Skinner topped the list. Skinner's staunch behaviorism made him a dominating force in psychology and therapy techniques based on his theories are still used extensively today, including behavior modification and token economies.
2. Sigmund Freud
When people think of psychology, many tend to think of Freud. His work supported the belief that not all mental illnesses have physiological causes and he also offered evidence that cultural differences have an impact on psychology and behavior. His work and writings contributed to our understanding of personality, clinical psychology, human development, and abnormal psychology.
3. Albert Bandura
Bandura's work is considered part of the cognitive revolution in psychology that began in the late 1960s. His social learning theory stressed the importance of observational learning, imitation, and modeling. "Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do," Bandura explained in his 1977 book Social Learning Theory.
4. Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget's work had a profound influence on psychology, especially our understanding children's intellectual development. His research contributed to the growth of developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, genetic epistemology, and education reform. Albert Einstein once described Piaget's observations on children's intellectual growth and thought processes as a discovery "so simple that only a genius could have thought of it."
5. Carl Rogers
Carl Rogers placed emphasis on human potential, which had an enormous influence on both psychology and education. He became one of the major humanist thinkers and an eponymous influence in therapy with his "Rogerian therapy." As described by his daughter Natalie Rogers, he was "a model for compassion and democratic ideals in his own life, and in his work as an educator, writer, and therapist."
6. William James
Psychologist and philosopher William James is often referred to as the father of American psychology. His 1200-page text, The Principles of Psychology, became a classic on the subject and his teachings and writings helped establish psychology as a science. In addition, James contributed to functionalism, pragmatism, and influenced many students of psychology during his 35-year teaching career.
7. Erik Erikson
Erik Erikson's stage theory of psychosocial development helped create interest and research on human development through the lifespan. An ego psychologist who studied with Anna Freud, Erikson expanded psychoanalytic theory by exploring development throughout the life, including events of childhood, adulthood, and old age.
8. Ivan Pavlov
Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist whose research on conditioned reflexes influenced the rise of behaviorism in psychology. Pavlov's experimental methods helped move psychology away from introspection and subjective assessments to objective measurement of behavior.
9. Kurt Lewin
Lewin is known as the father of modern social psychology because of his pioneering work that utilized scientific methods and experimentation to look as social behavior. Lewin was a seminal theorist whose enduring impact on psychology makes him one of the preeminent psychologists of the 20th-century.
10. Reader's Choice
Following the examples of Eugene Garfield's 1977 ranking list and Haggbloom's 2002 ranking, the final position on this list has been left blank in order to allow "the reader's best case for a psychologist who should have made the list" (Haggbloom, 2002).
From: http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/tp/ten-influential-psychologists.htm
Vegetarianism
History of Vegetarianism
The earliest records of vegetarianism as a concept and practice amongst a significant amount of people concern ancient India and the ancient Greek civilization in Southern Italy and in Greece in the 6th century BCE. In both instances the diet was closely connected with the idea of nonviolence towards animals (called ahimsa in India) and was promoted by religious groups and philosophers. Following the Christianization of the Roman Empire in late antiquity, vegetarianism practically disappeared from Europe. Several orders of monks in medieval Europe restricted or banned the consumption of meat for ascetic reasons, but none of them eschewed fish. Vegetarianism was to reemerge somewhat in Europe during the Renaissance. It became a more widespread practice in the 19th and 20th centuries.
In 1847 the first Vegetarian Society was founded in England; Germany, the Netherlands and other countries followed. The International Vegetarian Union, a union of the national societies, was founded in 1908. In the Western world, the popularity of vegetarianism grew during the 20th century as a result of nutritional, ethical, and more recently, environmental and economic concerns. Today, Indian vegetarians, primarily lacto vegetarians, are estimated to make up more than 70% of the world's vegetarians. They make up 20–42% of the population in India, while less than 30% are regular meat-eaters. Surveys in the U.S. have found that roughly 1–2.8% of adults eat no meat, poultry, or fish.
Motivations and benefits
Vegetarianism can be followed for diverse reasons:
Religious and spiritual
Hinduism and Jainism teach vegetarianism as moral conduct while Christianity and Islam generally do not. Buddhism in general does not prohibit meat eating, while Mahayana Buddhism encourages vegetarianism as beneficial for developing compassion. Minor denominations that advocate a fully vegetarian diet include the Seventh-day Adventists, the Rastafari movement and the Hare Krishnas.
Hinduism
Most major paths of Hinduism hold vegetarianism as an ideal. There are three main reasons for this: the principle of nonviolence (ahimsa) applied to animals; the intention to offer only "pure" (vegetarian) food to a deity and then to receive it back as prasad; and the conviction that non-vegetarian food is detrimental for the mind and for spiritual development. Nonviolence is a common concern of all the vegetarian traditions in Hinduism; the other two aspects are relevant for those who follow special spiritual paths.
However, the food habits of Hindus vary according to their community or caste and according to regional traditions. Hindu vegetarians usually eschew eggs but consume milk and dairy products, so they are lacto-vegetarians. Many coastal habitants are fish eaters.
Jainism
Followers of Jainism are either lacto-vegetarians or vegans. No products obtained from dead animals are allowed. Jains hold vegetarianism as the ideal diet in a similar fashion to Hindu traditions but with emphasis on their principle of all-round non-violence (ahimsa). This is for them an indispensable condition for spiritual progress. Some particularly dedicated individuals are fruitarians. Honey is forbidden, because its collection is seen as violence against the bees. Some Jains do not consume plant parts that grow underground such as roots and bulbs, because tiny animals may be killed when the plants are pulled up.
Buddhism
Mahayana Buddhism generally advises monks to be strictly vegetarian, but followers may choose whether to be a vegetarian or not, although most do eat meat.
In the Theravada tradition monks are allowed to eat meat if it were being offered to them, nothing has been said about householders' diet.
Sikhism
Followers of the Sikh religion are divided in their opinion on whether their religion opposes meat consumption for Sikhs. Although many Sikhs eat meat, some Sikhs abstain from the consumption of meat and eggs.
In the case of meat, the Sikh Gurus have indicated their preference for a simple diet and depending on what one sees as a simple diet could be meat or vegetarian. Passages from the Guru Granth Sahib (the holy book of Sikhs, also known as the Adi Granth) says that fools argue over this issue. The tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh, prohibited the Sikhs from the consumption of halal or Kutha (any ritually slaughtered meat) meat because of the Sikh belief that sacrificing an animal in the name of God is mere ritualism (something to be avoided).
Judaism
In the Jewish religion people are permitted to consume meat, with some restrictions. Kashrut (dietary law according to halakha, Jewish religious law) forbids the eating of meat and dairy products together. It also restricts those animals which can be eaten: mammals with split hooves that chew their cud, fish with fins and scales, and certain bird species. Animals are also required to be slaughtered in a manner that minimizes their suffering. Some Jewish people are vegetarian because a vegetarian diet makes it easier to abide by kashrut principles. There are also a large number of Jews who are vegetarians by choice with no relation to their religious beliefs.
Having ties with both ancient Judaism and Christianity members of the ancient Essene religious group practised strict vegetarianism sharing a similar belief with the Hindus'/Jains' idea of Ahimsa or "harmlessness".
Christianity
While vegetarianism is not common in Christian thought, the concept appears periodically. According to the Bible, in the beginning, humans and animals were vegetarian. After the flood, God permitted the eating of meat. Some Christians believe that the Bible explains that, in the future, humans and animals will return to vegetarianism.
Some Christian leaders, such as the Reverend Andrew Linzey, have supported the view that Jesus was a vegetarian. Some people believe that the Book of Daniel specifically promotes vegetarianism as beneficial. However, common theology argues that in this instance Daniel is rejecting food that is considered to be unholy by his faith (eating food that had been sacrificed to pagan gods), not strictly meat. Specifically, some believe that the New Testament of the Bible says that a person's dietary choice is of small consequence and should not be a point of confrontation. Therefore, some modern Christians consider vegetarianism as a perfectly acceptable personal choice that has many of the same implications as fasting.
Islam
Islam allows consumption of meat, if the meat is "halal," which is meat slaughtered by the Islamic standards, and disallowed meat is haram, which is non-permitted meat or meat not slaughtered according to Islamic standards.
Muslim vegetarians are very rare as the consumption of meat is intertwined with religious sacrificing of animals (namely caprids, bovines and camels) in Eid ul-Adha. Moreover, according to Islamic jurisprudence it is wrong to forbid that which is not forbidden. When travelling to locations where it is difficult to get halal meat, Muslims might eat fish or vegetables but they must be sure that the vegetarian food does not contain wine or other alcoholic taste enhancers. However, meat-eating is not compulsory and one may abstain from it if they do not like the taste or need to abstain for health reasons.
Neopaganism
Many who practice a faith that falls under the Neopagan umbrella also practice vegetarianism. Since Neopaganism generally emphasizes the sanctity of Earth and Nature, a vegetarian diet is sometimes adopted out of concern for the environment and/or animal welfare. Conversely, many Neopagans view the consumption of meat as natural and a part of the cycles of life. The only qualms they may have is with the way in which animals are treated prior to being killed and the method in which they are killed.
Health
Many people who choose a vegetarian diet do so as a way of improving their health. The possible benefits include improved health for nutritional reasons and improved food safety. In the therapy of some health disorders and/or food intolerances vegetarian diets are a necessary element.
Nutritional
The American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada have stated: "Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals."
Some studies suggest that vegetarian food helps keep body weight under control and reduces risk of Heart diseases . American vegetarians tend to have lower body mass index, lower levels of cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and less incidence of heart disease, hypertension, some forms of cancer, type 2 diabetes, renal disease, osteoporosis, dementias such as Alzheimer’s Disease and other disorders that may be diet-related. The health of a group of 27,000 vegetarians is currently being followed at a UK centre of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), the largest study of the long-term effects of vegetarian diet.
Although potentially diet related, most studies do not control for other lifestyle variables that typically coexist with vegetarianism, for example increased exercise as part of a general concern for physical wellbeing that often accompanies the adoption of a vegetarian lifestyle.
Food safety
E. coli
Vegetarianism is believed to reduce E. coli infections, and proponents point to the link between E.coli contaminations in food and industrial scale meat and dairy farms. The most recent E. coli outbreak in North America has once again demonstrated this link because the source of this E. coli was traced back to "a large ranch in the Salinas Valley that has a beef cattle operation" about a half-mile from the spinach fields where spinach became contaminated.
There are several variants of E. coli and they can be found in a healthy human gut, but the deadly strain, was virtually unheard of until the 1980s. It is believed that this strain evolved in the digestive system of grain fed cattle on large industrial farms. On these farms, grain is used as cattle feed because it is nutrient-packed and increases efficiency. A side effect of feeding grain to cattle is that it increases the acidity of their stomach — and it is in this acidic gut that the deadly O157:H7 thrives.
In 2003, an article in the Journal of Dairy Science found that between 30 and 80 percent of cattle carry E. coli O157:H7. In that same journal article, a quick fix was pointed out: Cows that are switched from a grain diet to a forage diet saw, within 5 days, a 1,000 fold decrease in the abundance of strain O157. But until changes like this are made, the source of many E. coli outbreaks will continue to be high-yield (industrial) meat and dairy farms.
More likely, rather than change the way cattle are fed or raised on industrial farms there will instead be pressure to find technological solutions like food irradiation, plans for HACCP, or simply cooking burgers longer. Suggestions like this have led some experts, like Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley, Michael Pollan, to suggest that "All of these solutions treat E. coli O157:H7 as an unavoidable fact of life rather than what it is: a fact of industrial agriculture."
Advocates such as Howard Lyman and groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have promoted vegetarianism in response to cases of E. Coli infection.
E. Coli can be still acquired from any excrement-contaminated food or human commensal bacteria. The recent case of spinach and onions with E. Coli contamination in the U.S. shows that vegetarian foods are also susceptible to food safety concerns. In 2005, some people who had consumed branded triple-washed, pre-packaged lettuce were infected with E.Coli, and in 2007, branded lettuce salad were recalled after they were found to be contaminated by E.Coli In fact E. coli outbreaks have also involved unpasteurized apple and orange juice, milk, alfalfa sprouts, and even water.
Other food scares
Various animal food safety scares over recent years have led to increased numbers of people choosing a semi-vegetarian or vegetarian diet. These scares have included Avian flu in poultry, foot-and-mouth in sheep, PCBs in farmed salmon, mercury in fish, generally high dioxin concentrations in animal products, and artificial growth hormones, antibiotics or BSE in cows. According to various organisations, vCJD in humans is strongly linked with exposure to the BSE agent that has been found in beef. Toxins such as lead and mercury can bioaccumulate in animal products in higher concentrations than what is considered safe. Vegetables and fruits have a risk of being contaminated by pesticide residue or by banned chemicals being used to ripen fruits, therefore many vegetarians and vegans are also favoring organic products.
Medical
Sometimes medical patients are advised to adhere to a vegetarian diet. These patients are asked to continue such a diet either for the course of the treatment or for longer durations. In alternative medicine Ayurveda and Siddha medicine are examples of medical treatments that prescribe such a vegetarian diet. In such cases, the patient either follows vegetarianism for the defined period or sometimes continues long after the treatment is over.
Physiological
There is considerable debate over whether humans are physiologically better suited to a herbivore, omnivore, or carnivore diet. The Vegetarian Resource Group and others however, have concluded that humans are naturally omnivores.
Nutritional experts believe that humans evolved into eating meat as a result of huge climatic changes that took place about three-four million years ago, forests and jungles dried up and became open grasslands opening up hunting and scavenging opportunities.
Statistical studies, such as comparing life expectancy with regional areas and local diets have found life expectancy considerably greater in southern France, where a semi-vegetarian Mediterranean diet is common (fresh fruit, vegetables, olive oil, goat cheese and fish), than northern France, where an omnivorous diet is more common (also including pork, beef, butter, cows cheese and cream). It must be noted that national life expectancy is affected by many factors, which include access to adequate healthcare and medicine. This makes it difficult to conclusively prove any correlation between regional diets and life expectancy.
Ethical
Many vegetarians consider the production, subsequent slaughtering, and consumption of meat or animal products as unethical. Reasons for these beliefs are varied and may include a belief in animal rights, an aversion to inflicting pain or harm on other living creatures, or a belief that the unnecessary killing of other animals is inherently wrong.
Other vegetarians believe that although production and consumption of meat may be acceptable on its own terms, the methods by which animals are reared in the commercial industry are unethical. The book Animal Liberation by Peter Singer has been very influential on the animal rights movement and specifically ethical vegetarianism and veganism. In developed countries, ethical vegetarianism has become popular particularly after the spread of factory farming, which has reduced the sense of husbandry that used to exist in farming and which has led to animals being treated as commodities. Many believe that the treatment that animals undergo in the production of meat and animal products obliges them to never eat meat or use animal products.
Some vegetarians also choose to avoid wearing clothing that has involved the death of animals, such as leather and fur.
Environmental
Environmental vegetarianism is based on the belief that the production of meat and animal products for mass consumption, especially through factory farming, is environmentally unsustainable. In many countries, including the United States, intensive farming practices supply the needs of high animal protein diets. This constitutes the main concern of environmental vegetarianism issues.
According to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) "Most of the world's population today subsists on vegetarian or near-vegetarian diets for reasons that are economic, philosophical, religious, cultural, or ecological.". Meanwhile, according to the United Nations Population Fund "Each U.S. citizen consumes an average of 260 lb. of meat per year, the world's highest rate. That is about 1.5 times the industrial world average, three times the East Asian average, and 40 times the average in Bangladesh."
Some of the concerns are the large amounts of fossil fuel and water resources consumed by intensive animal farming and the consequent emissions of harmful gases and chemicals. Animal agriculture has been pointed out as one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases — responsible for 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalents. By comparison, all transportation emits 13.5% of the CO2. Animal farming produces 65% of human-related nitrous oxide (which has 296 times the global warming potential of CO2) and 37% of all human-induced methane (which is 23 times as warming as CO2). It is also accused of generating 64% of the ammonia, which contributes to acid rain and acidification of ecosystems. The habitat for wildlife provided by large industrial monoculture farms is very poor, and modern industrial agriculture has been considered a threat to biodiversity compared with farming practices such as organic farming, permaculture, arable, pastoral, and rainfed agriculture.
Animals fed on grain, and those that rely on grazing need far more water than grain crops. According to the USDA, growing the crops necessary to feed farmed animals requires nearly half of the United States' water supply and 80% of its agricultural land. Additionally, animals raised for food in the U.S. consume 90% of the soy crop, 80% of the corn crop, and a total of 70% of its grain.
When tracking food animal production from the feed trough to consumption, the inefficiencies of meat, milk and egg production range from 4:1 energy input to protein output ratio up to 54:1. As it was published, "U.S. could feed 800 million people with grain that livestock eat, Cornell ecologist advises animal scientists Future water and energy shortages predicted to change face of American agriculture". To produce animal based food seems to be, according to these studies, typically much less efficient than the harvesting of grains, vegetables, legumes, seeds and fruits. Exception is made of animals that are grazed rather than fed, especially those grazed on land that could not be used for other purposes.
According to the theory of Trophic dynamics, it requires 10 times as many crops to feed animals being bred for meat production, than the amount of crops that would be required to feed the same amount of people on a vegetarian diet. Currently, 70% of all the wheat, corn and other grain produced is fed to farmed animals. This has led many proponents to believe that it is ecologically irresponsible to consume meat.
Another argument is that farmed animals produce about 130 times as much excrement as the entire human population of the United States. Since factory farms don't have sewage treatment systems as cities and towns do, this ends up polluting ground water, destroying the topsoil, and contaminating the air. And meat-eaters are responsible for the production of 100 percent of this waste—about 86,000 pounds per second.
Labor conditions
Some groups promote vegetarianism as a way to offset poor treatment and working conditions of workers in the contemporary meat industry. These groups cite studies showing the psychological damage caused by working in the meat industry, especially in factory and industrialized settings, and argue that the meat industry violates its laborers human rights by delegating difficult and distressing tasks without adequate counselling, training and debriefing.
Economical
Similar to environmental vegetarianism is the concept of economic vegetarianism. An economic vegetarian is someone who practises vegetarianism from either the philosophical viewpoint concerning issues such as public health and curbing world starvation, the belief that the consumption of meat is economically unsound, part of a conscious simple living strategy or just out of necessity. According to the WorldWatch Institute, "Massive reductions in meat consumption in industrial nations will ease the health care burden while improving public health; declining livestock herds will take pressure off of rangelands and grainlands, allowing the agricultural resource base to rejuvenate. As populations grow, lowering meat consumption worldwide will allow more efficient use of declining per capita land and water resources, while at the same time making grain more affordable to the world's chronically hungry." Economic vegetarians also may include people from third world countries who follow a de facto vegetarian diet due to the high price of meat.
Psychological
Many vegetarians choose to be so in part because they find meat and meat products aesthetically unappetizing. The Whole Earth Vegetarian Catalogue's '49 good reasons for being a vegetarian' says that a reason for being a vegetarian is that "Decaying animal parts, whether in a freezer case or served in restaurants, can never be as aesthetically pleasing to the senses as the same foods made from wholesome vegetable sources. Only habit can allow one not to perceive this: a change in diet makes this self evident." The metaphor by Douglas Dunn is that if one gives a young child an apple and a live chicken, the child would instinctively play with the chicken and eat the apple, whereas if a cat were presented with the same choices, its natural impulse would be the opposite.
Though this may be considered a flawed comparison, as cats are carnivores and not omnivores. It has been noted that comparatively omnivorous human-like species such as chimpanzee's offspring may not instinctively kill such hunted prey as the Senegal Bushbabys when presented with one and banana or other fruit either; despite hunting and eating them. The comparison may also suffer from the "Appeal to nature" logical fallacy.
In a similar assertion, Scott Adams, who is also a vegetarian, once wrote humorously: "I point out that a live cow makes a lion salivate, whereas a human just wants to say "moo" and see if the cow responds".
Moreover, research on the psychology of meat consumption suggests that consumers of meat may need to use defense mechanisms such as psychological numbing to distance themselves from the notion that they are eating animals.
Cultural influence
Some people may choose vegetarianism because they were raised in a vegetarian household or because of a vegetarian partner, family member, or friend. A predominantly and traditionally vegetarian society also facilitates the continuance of such tradition.
In countries where religious belief have become inherent to society and daily life, vegetarianism is more easily seen.
Health effects
Many people live healthy lives as vegetarians (vegetarian Olympic athletes are often cited) and though it is commonly argued that vegetarians have higher rates of mineral or vitamin deficiencies, these nutrients can be found in green leafy vegetables, grains, nuts, and fortified juices or soymilk.. Studies suggest that a vegetarian diet may help keep body weight under control and reduce the risk of heart disease.
Longevity
A 1999 metastudy compared six major studies from western countries. The study found that the mortality ratio was the lowest in fish eaters (0.82) followed by vegetarians (0.84) and occasional meat eaters (0.84) and which was then followed by regular meat eaters (1.0) and vegan (1.0) . In "Mortality in British vegetarians", it was concluded that "British vegetarians have low mortality compared with the general population. Their death rates are similar to those of comparable non-vegetarians, suggesting that much of this benefit may be attributed to non-dietary lifestyle factors such as a low prevalence of smoking and a generally high socio-economic status, or to aspects of the diet other than the avoidance of meat and fish."
Among these meta studies, the Adventist Health Study is an ongoing study of life expectancy in Seventh-day Adventists following different behaviour patterns. The researchers found that a combination of different lifestyle choices could influence life expectancy by as much as 10 years. Among the lifestyle choices investigated, a vegetarian diet was estimated to confer an extra 1-1/2 to 2 years of life. The researchers concluded that "the life expectancies of California Adventist men and women are higher than those of any other well-described natural population" at 78.5 years for men and 82.3 years for women. The life expectancy of California Adventists surviving to age 30 was 83.3 years for men and 85.7 years for women. However, this study of Adventist health study is again incorporated into meta studies titled "Does low meat consumption increase life expectancy in humans?" published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which again made the similar conclusion that occasional/low meat eating and other life style choices significantly increase the life expectancy. The study also concluded that "Some of the variation in the survival advantage in vegetarians may have been due to marked differences between studies in adjustment for confounders, the definition of vegetarian, measurement error, age distribution, the healthy volunteer effect, and intake of specific plant foods by the vegetarians." It further states that "This raises the possibility that a low-meat, high plant-food dietary pattern may be the true causal protective factor rather than simply elimination of meat from the diet." In a recent review of studies relating low-meat diet patterns to all-cause mortality, Singh noted that "5 out of 5 studies indicated that adults who followed a low meat, high plant-food diet pattern experienced significant or marginally significant decreases in mortality risk relative to other patterns of intake."
Nutrition
Western vegetarian diets are typically high in carotenoids, but relatively low in long-chain n-3 fatty acids, and vitamin B12. Vegans can have particularly low intake of vitamin B12 and calcium if they do not eat enough items such as collard greens, leafy greens, tempeh and tofu. High levels of dietary fibre, folic acid, vitamins C and E, and magnesium, and low consumption of saturated fat could all be beneficial aspects of a vegetarian diet. The health impact of high carbohydrate and n-6 fatty acid intake, and relatively low consumption of protein, retinol and zinc, is unclear as vegetarians probably have levels close to those recommended.
Vegetarian diets typically contain similar levels of iron to non-vegetarian diets but this has lower bioavailability than iron from meat sources, and its absorption can be inhibited by other dietary constituents. Vegan diets are usually higher in iron than vegetarian diets because dairy products are low in iron. Iron stores are lower in vegetarians than non-vegetarians and iron deficiency is thus more common in vegetarian and vegan women and children (adult males are rarely iron deficient), but iron deficiency anaemia is rare.
Vitamin B12 in plants varies widely depending on the type of plant and the soil in which it is grown. Therefore the main sources of this vitamins for vegetarians are dairy products and eggs, fortified foods and dietary supplements. Clinical evidence of Vitamin B12 deficiency is uncommon given to the fact that the human body preserves B12, using it without destroying the substance. Vegetarians who were previously meat eaters may preserve, up to 30 years, stores of Vit B12 in their bodies.. The recommendation of taking supplements has been recently challenged by studies indicating that exogenous B12 may actually interfere with the proper absorption of this viatmin in its natural form. The research on Vit B12 sources has increased in the latest years and researchers at Hiroshima University have developed methods for growing plants rich in vitamin B12.
A vegetarian diet does not include fish — a major source of Omega 3; although some plant-based sources exist such as soy, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, canola oil and, especially, hempseed and flaxseed. Plant foods can provide alpha-linolenic acid but not the long-chain n-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. Eggs and dairy products contain low levels of EPA and DHA. Vegetarians, and particularly vegans, have lower levels of EPA and DHA than meat-eaters. The health effects of low levels of EPA and DHA are unknown but it is unlikely that supplementation with alpha-linolenic acid will significantly increase their levels.
Calcium intake in vegetarians is similar to non-vegetarians. Impaired bone mineralisation which has been attached to Veganism, in vegetarians is less clear.
Vitamin D intake is not lower in Vegetarians even if they don't consume fish oils. Products including milk, soy milk and cereal grains are rich in Vitamin D and mushrooms provide over 2700 IU per serving (approx. 3 oz or 1/2 cup) of vitamin D2, if exposed to just 5 minutes of UV light after being harvested;.
Protein intake in vegetarian and vegan diets is only slightly slower than in omnivores and satisfy all daily requirements . Studies by the University of Harvard as well as other studies conducted in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and various European countries, have confirmed that vegetarian diets provide more than sufficient protein intake as long as a variety of plants sources are available and consumed. Proteins are composed of amino acids, and a common concern with protein acquired from vegetable sources is an adequate intake of the "essential amino acids", which cannot be synthesized by the human body. While dairy and egg products provide complete sources for lacto-ovo vegetarians, the only vegetable sources with all eight types of essential amino acids are soy, hempseed, amaranth, buckwheat and quinoa. It is not necessary, however, to obtain protein from these sources -- the essential amino acids can also be obtained by eating a variety of complementary plant sources that, in combination, provide all eight essential amino acids (eg. rice and beans, or hummus and pita). While it is a common myth that complementary protein sources must be combined within a single meal to maximize nutritional benefit, a varied intake of complementary sources over the course of a day (or a number of days) is generally sufficient, especially when protein consumption is substantially above minimum physiological requirements.
Demographics
One observational study in British Medical Journal found that high childhood IQ was associated with vegetarianism in later life. According to the study, "Higher IQ at age 10 years was associated with an increased likelihood of being vegetarian at age 30 [...] IQ remained a statistically significant predictor of being vegetarian as an adult after adjustment for social class (both in childhood and currently), academic or vocational qualifications, and sex".
Gender
Some studies show that vegetarian women are much more likely to have female babies. A study of 6,000 pregnant women in 1998 "found that while the national average in Britain is 106 boys born to every 100 girls, for vegetarian mothers the ratio was just 85 boys to 100 girls." However, the research was dismissed by Catherine Collins, of the British Dietetic Association, as a "statistical fluke".
There is some speculation that diets high in soy, due to high isoflavone content, can have a feminizing effect on humans due to the phytoestrogens contained. Proponents of this theory claim that diets high in isoflavones promote earlier onset of female puberty and delayed male puberty. These effects, however, are not observed in populations of the Far East, where soy-rich diets are traditional.
Country-specific information
Labeling used in India to distinguish vegetarian products from non-vegetarian ones.
Around the world vegetarianism is viewed in different lights. In some areas there is cultural and even legal support, but in others the diet is poorly understood or even frowned upon. In many countries food labeling is in place that makes it easier for vegetarians to identify foods compatible with their diets.
In India, not only is there food labeling, but many restaurants are marketed and signed as being either "Vegetarian" or "Non-Vegetarian". People who are vegetarian in India are usually Lacto-vegetarians, and therefore, to cater for this market, the majority of "vegetarian" restaurants in India do serve dairy products while eschewing egg products. Most Western vegetarian restaurants, in comparison, do serve eggs and egg-based products. A colloquial term for a vegetarian who eats eggs is "Eggitarian".
Vegetarian Textiles
Leather
Some vegetarians will choose not to wear leather. Because leather footwear and other accessories are expected in some workplaces, there are many specialist suppliers that sell belts, shoes, safety boots, jackets and briefcases that share the appearance of leather but are in fact made of synthetic materials generically known as Vegan leather. High-end fashion designer Stella McCartney is famed for her refusal to use leather, fur or other animal products in her range of clothes and accessories and is thus popular with wealthier vegetarians.
Silk
Many vegetarians refuse to wear silk because of the large number of silkworms that are killed in the harvest. Alternatives have begun appearing lately, such as silk that is harvested from abandoned cocoons, called "Peace Silk", and plant based sources, such as finely woven bamboo cloth, or soy ("Azalon") cloth.
Wool
Although shearing sheep for wool does not usually involve the death of the animal, many vegetarians, especially vegans, do not wear or use wool. A common alternative for cold-weather wear is polar fleece, which has the added benefit of being available in versions that are made from recycled plastic.
From: http://encyclopedia.tfd.com/vegetarian