Inhumane Experiments That Helped Humans

Guest Post by Christine Seivers

No one wants to imagine Mickey Mouse being used for medical research, but it’s downright disturbing to think that the little kids watching Mickey Mouse were once the guinea pigs themselves. In this day and age, we are pretty fortunate to be able to protest experiments on animals and stem cells since much more horrifying tests have been performed on living human beings throughout history. Even though the world condemns the evil and unethical experiments that have taken place, a few of these tests do have a bit of a silver lining. Take a look at the positive impact some of this research has had, and thank your lucky stars you haven’t been sacrificed in the name of science — yet.

1. Injecting boy with cowpox pus

   At the end of the 18th century, smallpox was responsible for killing 400,000 people per year in Europe alone, and its profile only continued to rise during the next century. Children were particularly at risk of dying from the illness that covered your body in a blistery rash. Taking a cue from an old wives’ tale that milkmaids never got smallpox because they normally contracted cowpox, which was very mild in comparison, Edward Jenner injected an 8-year-old boy (his gardener’s son) with pus from a cowpox pustule. When he tried to give the boy smallpox, it didn’t work. Jenner tested the idea on a few other children before giving it the name “vaccine” after the Latin word for cow. Smallpox has since been eradicated from the world thanks to the ill-advised experiment by Jenner. Let’s hope that gardener at least got a nice raise.

2. Making kids stutter

   Children who develop a stutter are normally faced with ridicule, depression, and lonely lives, especially in the days before effective therapy treatments were discovered. One leader in the speech therapy field thought he had figured out what makes people stutter and wanted to make sure. Wendell Johnson decided to test his theory, with the help of graduate student Mary Tudor, by using orphans as guinea pigs. Children went to therapy with Tudor each week thinking they were being helped with their language; in reality, Tudor was using methods that coincided with Johnson’s theory to make the kids’ speech deteriorate dramatically. Even after she left, the orphans who had taken part found their language getting worse and worse — and they never recovered. Out of their suffering, though, Johnson’s theory that stuttering develops and worsens when children are criticized for their language mistakes was confirmed, and effective methods for improving stutters were developed.

3. Giving prisoners authority over others

   This psychological experiment wasn’t physically harmful, but it definitely caused emotional distress for both those involved and anyone who hears about the depravity of human nature. Volunteers were paid $15 to take part in the study, and the most mentally stable were chosen to participate. Twenty-four men were brought in to create a prison situation, with half being randomly selected as guards and half as inmates. The guards wore uniforms and had wooden batons while the prisoners wore smocks with no underwear and lived in bare conditions for the proposed two weeks of the experiment. The guards quickly began humiliating the prisoners. They confiscated mattresses, stripped prisoners, and subjected them to sexual humiliation — just because they could. The prisoners themselves became institutionalized and didn’t want to quit early or accept newcomers in their ranks. The experiment was ended early after just six days but provided a valuable insight into the psychological impact of prison roles, knowledge that has been used to avoid situations like those seen at Abu Ghraib.

4. Performing surgeries without anesthesia

   Often billed as the father of gynecology, J. Marion Sims made some major contributions to the medical field of lady-parts, such as developing ways to repair vesicovaginal fistulas. It’s probably as complicated as it sounds. Sims made these valuable discoveries, however, at the expense of many slave women in the 1840s. The vesicovaginal fistula is normally the result of a traumatic labor (though anyone who’s seen The Miracle of Life could probably argue that all labors are traumatic), and women who developed it were stigmatized in that century. The experimental surgeries themselves may not have been inhumane since he did eventually fix the problem in the women, but Sims opted to perform them without any anesthesia even though it was available at the time. He operated on one of the women 30 times, and she could feel it all. Sims eventually moved on to operating on white women (with anesthesia, though) after he had the surgery perfected and created several other procedures and tools that furthered the practice of gynecology.

5. Infecting Guatemalans with syphilis

   In the 1940s, penicillin was a new antibiotic with hundreds of potential uses. Doctors just had to discover what it could be used to treat. Syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases were definite possibilities on the list, so in order to figure out if penicillin would work on them, U.S. Public Health Service researchers, led by Dr. John Cutler, found some cases to test it on. More accurately, they created the cases to test it on. The researchers exposed 1,300 Guatemalan sex workers, prisoners, and mental health patients to syphilis, gonorrhea, or chancroid, and about 700 were infected. The penicillin did cure most of the cases, a breakthrough for the treatment of STDs, but some records indicate that as many as 80 people died.

6. Giving people yellow fever

   The number of Americans who died during the Spanish-American War from military causes was 13 times less than the number who were killed by yellow fever. Soldiers had never encountered the disease before they arrived in Cuba so they lacked any kind of immunity to it. Around the turn of the 20th century, no one was certain how the disease was spread, but it had been recently suggested it might be transmitted by mosquitos, a method unheard of before the time. Walter Reed, an Army physician, conducted several experiments to determine the source of infection, and volunteers were paid extra if they contracted the illness. Test subjects were made to sleep on unwashed sheets and wear the clothing of yellow fever victims from a hospital, most of them still covered with the black vomit that goes with the disease. Some of Reed’s researchers volunteered themselves to test the mosquito theory, which they believed to be false, but one of them ended up dying as a result. Thus, the first mosquito-transmitted disease was discovered and scientists could start figuring out ways to prevent it.

7. Killing babies with tuberculosis

   The purpose of the experiment obviously wasn’t to kill the infant test subjects, but that’s what happened when a German pediatrician injected 250 babies with the BCG vaccine. Tuberculosis has been a common killer throughout much of history. If you were ever asked in a history class how an important figure died, tuberculosis was normally a pretty good guess. Finding a treatment for the deadly disease was a top priority for physicians, and several tests had been run with the developing BCG vaccine, which comes from cow TB. In Lubeck, Germany, a doctor gave the vaccine to 250 infants, essentially giving them mild tuberculosis. Seventy-five of them died, raising questions about whether the vaccine was safe or if it had been administered incorrectly. Research into the tragedy helped the world’s doctors better understand how TB infects the body and how to safeguard against future problems with vaccination. Today, tuberculosis is still common in some parts of the world, but in other areas, it has almost disappeared.

8. Infecting prisoners with cholera and the plague

   Prisoners are often targeted by medical researchers because they are kept in controlled environments and scientists can be sure that conditions are fulfilled exactly as they want them to be. This lack of control over their  own surroundings, though, has made inmates subject to some of the most inhumane treatment in the name of science. In 1906, Dr. Richard Strong was doing studies on cholera, so he injected 24 Filipino prisoners with the disease. What he didn’t know is that his cholera had been contaminated with plague bacteria. He ordered the men to form a line and then gave them the diseases without telling them what he was doing. More than half of the guys died. Authorities in the Philippines investigated the practices of the researcher and criticized him for not getting informed consent before performing the experiment. Though Strong was ultimately exonerated, the condemnation of using uninformed test subjects was the first step toward the strict rules for research we have today.

9. Stuffing radium in kids’ noses

   When kids have ear problems or trouble breathing through their noses, they often have their adenoid glands removed. In the middle of the 20th century, doctors thought they had found a better way to treat these symptoms than taking out the glands completely. Instead, they would put rods containing radium into the noses of patients to shrink the tissue in the cavity behind your nose. In the years around 1950, researchers at Johns Hopkins Hospital gave 582 third-graders the treatment to see the long-term effects of radium on hearing loss. Of course, this meant putting a radioactive compound inside the children, near their brains and other important organs. Though it hasn’t been determined yet whether the children have an increased risk of cancer, more definitive results should be available in the next 10 years or so, giving scientists a more thorough knowledge on the effects of radiation.

10. Testing whether humans will do awful things if you tell them to

    Spoiler: they will. The now-famous experiment performed by Stanley Milgram tested how far humans will push their morals just to do what they’re told. The test subjects were told to administer a shock to a test subject in a separate room every time that person got an answer wrong. The strength of the shock would increase after each wrong answer. The person who was supposed to be receiving the shocks was actually an accomplice of the researcher and would scream in pain and complain about a heart condition as the voltage went higher. When the test subject would ask if they should keep going, the researcher would tell them to continue. A shocking 65% of people, not under any threat of punishment, continued to give the shocks to the maximum voltage. The experiment gave some perspective on those Nazis who said they were just doing what they were told, and hopefully will help us develop strategies to avoid falling into a situation like that ever again.

First Published Here

Related articles

• Who created the first vactination (wiki.answers.com)
• Jenner’s Vaccination is Still Saving Humanity (socyberty.com)
• Cowpox virus: Old friend but new foe (eurekalert.org)
• There’s a Shot for That (discovermagazine.com)
• David Tereshchuk: Story of the Year Goes Largely Unnoticed (huffingtonpost.com)
• Smallpox vaccine doubles liver cancer survival time (newscientist.com)
• Smallpox vaccine doubles liver cancer survival time (newscientist.com)
• Can vaccine recommendations be based solely on individual and public health? (jflahiff.wordpress.com)

Countries That Beat United States in Science

Guest Post from Kaitlyn Cole

The U.S. stands out from the crowd in many ways, but average test scores in science and math usually don’t place our nation in the top tier. While there are many top-notch educational facilities in our country, from elementary all the way up to college, overall, the American educational system could use a major overhaul. Students simply haven’t been keeping up with those in other nations when it comes to learning the basics of math and science, a fact that could leave us behind in an economy driven by technology.

While there are many nations with amazing educational systems that you might expect to outpace American students in science, there are a number of other, more surprising, countries that fare better as well. Here, we’ve listed just a few of the countries you might not expect to best us in science scores, but that national studies have found actually do — with some beating Americans quite soundly.
Czech Republic: The Czech Republic has a tumultuous past, having been renamed and reorganized several times during the past century. As recently as 1993, the Czech Republic was part of the larger nation of Czechoslovakia, but through a peaceful dissolution it became its own nation. While the Czech Republic may have had an interesting past, even over the past two decades, today the nation is one of the most peaceful, democratic, and healthy in Europe, though many in the U.S. might know little about it. Education is also blossoming in the Czech Republic, and the education system is currently ranked 15th in the world by the Programme for International Student Development. Science scores easily outpace those here, with students in eighth (Czech eighth graders are second in the world in science test scores) and 12th grade scoring higher than U.S. students.
Hungary: At various points in history, Hungary was one of the cultural centers of the Western world, but after World War I, the nation lost more than 70% of its territory and more than 33% of its population. The years that followed were full of political and economic tumult, but today Hungary is a stable and thriving nation. While many U.S. students struggle with science education, those in Hungary score quite well on international assessments. For example, Hungarian eighth graders average 554 in science, while U.S. students were at 534 in the same year. U.S. students do catch up in high school, however.
Bulgaria: This small nation in the Balkans must be doing something right when it comes to science education. Despite major conflicts during World War II and political upheaval until the late 1980s, the nation boasts great science and math test scores for students. On the International Mathematics and Science Study, Bulgarian students scored well in science, especially at the eighth grade level, when the nation ranked fifth in the world (of the nations studied), a fair amount above the U.S.’s 17th place finish for the same grade.
Slovenia: Bordering Italy and Croatia, most in the U.S. likely know little of this small European nation. Slovenia is a relatively new country, declaring independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, but it has a long history and culture. While Slovenia may be relatively new, its education system is getting things right, and is currently ranked the 12th best in the world and the 4th best in the EU. Students in Slovenia scored better than U.S. students in science both in eighth and 12th grade assessments by the TIMSS. They also did better in the Programme for International Student Assessment, ranking 17th in science, with U.S. students coming in 23rd.
Estonia: Estonia is a tiny Baltic nation that in recent years had a tough battle to get independence from Soviet Russia, finally becoming autonomous in 1991. Today, it is one of the wealthiest former Soviet republics and boasts a great deal of political, economic, and educational freedom. Students in Estonia can expect to get an education in science that may be markedly better than that of U.S. students. According to PISA tests, Estonia ranks ninth in the world for science scores, outpacing nations like Australia, Germany, and Australia.
Macau: Macau is technically part of China, but is one of the nation’s two special administrative regions (the other being Hong Kong), and Macau operates its legal, economic, and immigration departments. Macau is a nation perhaps best known for gambling and tourism, so it might be surprising that it produces such standout scores in math and science. It’s even more surprising when you consider that the nation has no universal education system, and few residents have a secondary or college education. Still, students who do pursue education in Macau do well, ranking the small nation 18th in the world in science scores.
Poland: Poland was virtually destroyed during World War II, and its culture, economy, population, infrastructure, and stability all took a major hit. It took decades to recover, but today Poland has a very high standard of living and a respectable education system. While Poland’s education system is ranked 23rd in the world, its science scores earn it a higher spot at 19th, just a few spots higher than the U.S.
Russia: Russia may not be known for its education system, but that doesn’t mean students in the Russian Federation aren’t getting the knowledge they need, especially when it comes to science. This former Soviet nation has free education for all citizens, but getting into colleges and universities is extremely competitive, and as a result students put a great deal of effort into boosting their science and technology knowledge. That studying pays off, earning Russian students average scores on TIMSS that are just a few points higher than those in the U.S.
Australia: That famous laid-back Aussie attitude may be applied to many aspects of life in Australia, but education isn’t one of them. Australia currently ranks 10th in the world for science education via the PISA evaluation and scores exceptionally well on the TIMSS assessment as well, outperforming the U.S. in all grades except for fourth, where it doesn’t lag far behind.
China: It comes as no surprise that China is best ranked in the world when it comes to science education (and math, and reading), but what may be surprising is just how much better students score than those in the U.S. Fourth graders in Hong Kong scored an average of 554 on world math and science assessments, where students in the U.S. score 539. The PISA assessment found an even bigger gap, with science students in Shanghai averaging 575 and U.S. students just 502.

Of course, these scores and rankings should be taken in stride, as they don’t represent every student or every school. It’s also important to note that the U.S. beats out other nations with stellar educational systems like Norway, Iceland, and France when it comes to science education, so for everything the U.S. system is doing wrong, there’s also something they’re doing right.

First Published Here

Famous and Successful People Were ALSO Bullied In School

Guest Post by Jasmine Hall

For bullied kids, it’s hard to imagine a life without anxiety and fear of taunting or physical abuse, but the fact is, even in what seems like the worst bullying situations, it does eventually get better. Lots of celebrities and famous figures have recently spoken out about their experiences as the targets of bullies, and their stories offer inspiration to anyone who is bullied, whether it’s in the schoolyard or the boardroom. Read on to find out how these famous, successful people moved beyond their bullies, and how some of them even used their experiences as bullying victims to fuel their success.

Chris Rock

Chris Rock isn’t afraid to hand out the insults these days, but back in school, he was often the target. As the only black kid in a New York City School, Rock stood out, and was frequently bullied and beaten up. According to Rock, he “got beat up just about every day. I got called n**ger every single day. I got kicked and whatever.” In fact, his experience in school was so bad, he is the subject of a true-to-life sitcom, Everybody Hates Chris, which chronicles his often painful experiences growing up in NYC. Not everyone gets an outlet like TV to share their bullying experiences, but Rock has cathartically benefited from the show: one of his former teachers sent an apology letter to him after seeing the previews, saying, “I knew it was hard on you, but I had no idea. If anything happened to you because of me, please forgive me.”

Kate Winslet

As one of the most beautiful and talented women in Hollywood, it’s hard to believe that anyone would pick on Oscar winner Kate Winslet about her looks, but it’s true. Growing up, Winslet was bullied and teased for being chubby. Her nickname at school was Blubber, and she was once even locked in the art cupboard. And although she is now adored by many worldwide, girls at school told her that no one would ever “fancy” her. Winslet may have grown out of her young awkwardness, but she has not yet shed the painful words of her youth. She says that she still feels like “the fat schoolgirl” and even now doesn’t “consider [herself] some kind of great, sexy beauty, acknowledging that magazine covers are retouched, and she’s greatly helped in films by hair, makeup, and lighting.

• Miley Cyrus

• Although Miley Cyrus seems to be quite popular as a teen, her pre-teen (and pre-fame) years in Tennessee were a completely different experience. At school, there was an “Anti-Miley Club” full of “big, tough girls” who were “fully capable of doing [her] bodily harm” and went above and beyond in their bullying pursuit. Cyrus was once locked in a bathroom during class: “They shoved me in. I was trapped. I banged on the door until my fists hurt. Nobody came.” Other incidents included challenging Cyrus to a fight, which only ended when the principal stepped in. And when Cyrus wasn’t being physically abused, she was being teased, with classmates telling her, “Your dad’s a one-hit wonder. You’ll never amount to anything — just like him.” Fortunately for her, Cyrus did not listen to nay-sayers, scoring the role of “Hannah Montana” and a ticket to fame and fortune.

• Sir Ranulph Fiennes

  Sir Ranulph Fiennes is known as the world’s greatest living explorer, and he has the Guinness Book of World Records title to prove it. But before he scaled the summit of Mount Everest — at the age of 65, no less — he had to face a different kind of challenge: bullies at Eton College. Growing up, Fiennes was an “attractive boy,” and at the time, it was considered normal to tease pretty boys. And tease they did, taunting Fiennes with whistles and shouts of “tart, tart,” an experience he recalls as “remorseless nastiness” that nearly drove him to suicide. But Fiennes survived bullies, much as he has survived so much else: a career in the British army, discovering the lost city of Ubar in Oman, performing a self-amputation of his necrotic fingertips, and even completing the Land Rover 7x7x7 Challenge for the British Heart Foundation, which included completing seven marathons in seven days on seven continents, just four months after suffering a heart attack and double heart bypass surgery. And his “pretty boy” attractiveness worked for him in a positive way: Fiennes was one of the final six contenders for the role of James Bond.

• Bill Clinton

  President Bill Clinton was once the leader of the free world, but this iconic politician came from humble beginnings. As a junior high schooler, he was picked on relentlessly for being a “fat band boy” with bad taste in clothes. Their taunting culminated in an incident at a junior high dance: one older student teased Clinton about his carpenter’s jeans, and even hit Clinton in the jaw. But Clinton did not give the bully what he wanted, choosing to stand his ground rather than fight back or back down. Clinton shares in his memoir, My Life, “I had learned that I could take a hit and that there’s more than one way to stand against aggression.” He survived the incident, and his status as a band geek paid off, with Clinton becoming a talented and celebrated saxophone player in addition to his life in public service.

• Winona Ryder

  Few people who were bullied ever get a chance at revenge, though we’re sure they do fantasize about it. Winona Ryder is one of the lucky few who have been able to get back at a bully, even in the smallest of ways. Although she is a popular actress, she was beaten up and taunted in middle school by students who said she looked like a boy. Ryder recalls, “I was wearing an old Salvation Army shop boy’s suit. As I went to the bathroom I heard people saying, ‘Hey, faggot’. They slammed my head into a locker. I fell to the ground and they started to kick the s**t out of me. I had to have stitches. The school kicked me out, not the bullies.” Although Ryder remembers the incident clearly, one of her bullies conveniently forgot when, years later, she ran into her at a coffee shop and asked Ryder for an autograph. Apparently, Ryder did not forgive or forget, responding, “‘Do you remember me? Remember in seventh grade you beat up that kid?’ And she said, ‘Kind of’. And I said, ‘That was me. Go f*** yourself.’” Although it’s best to forgive your bullies and move on, we’re hoping that Ryder was able to enjoy her cathartic revenge.

• Michael Phelps

  In 2008, Michael Phelps earned respect worldwide for his performance at the Beijing Olympic Games, as he earned the title of greatest Olympian ever with his all-time record for most individual gold Olympic medals, a total of nine. And although he has been called “amazing,” “incredible,” and even “Sportsman of the Year,” Phelps was branded with much different terms as a kid. He was taunted for his “sticky-out ears” and lisp, as well as his long arms, which ultimately took him to greatness. It seems that the taunting Phelps experienced encouraged his greatness as well, with coach Bob Bowman reporting, “Michael is the motivation machine — bad moods, good moods, he channels everything for gain.” Including, we presume, childhood taunting. Phelps is apparently able to take any adversity and turn it into a reason to train harder, going so far as to train during Christmas. His story is one of particular inspiration to bullied kids everywhere, showing that you can not only survive taunting, but turn it into motivation to be amazing.

• Prince Harry

  Most people imagine that the life of a prince is quite privileged and pleasant, and although we’re sure Prince Harry has his fair share of royal privileges, he’s also gotten more than his fair share of taunting. The reason? His red hair. Although in America, red hair does not carry a stigma, in the UK, “gingers” like Harry are picked on for their colored hair and fair skin. Harry’s army pals frequently call him the “Ginger Bullet Magnet,” and have joked that they would buy ginger wigs to wear in Iraq, presumably to prevent insurgents from identifying the young prince. Harry’s girlfriend, however has a more flattering nickname: “Big Ginger.” However, Harry’s hair hasn’t kept him from success, as he is currently a captain in the Army Air Corps, with honorary military appointments in the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. Prince Henry is also philanthropically active, acting as patron of several charity organizations, including Sentebale, a charity he co-founded to support orphans and vulnerable children in Lesotho.

• Emma Watson

  Bullying doesn’t just happen in grade school, and even the rich and famous take hits now and then. Emma Watson, one of the stars of Harry Potter, is the unfortunate proof of that. This year, Watson dropped out of Brown University, claiming that she wanted to focus on her acting career, but it is widely believed that she left due to bullying. According to fellow students, Watson was frequently mocked in classes, with students chiming in, “Three points for Gryffindor!” and other taunts when she answered questions in classes. But Watson has decided to give school another go, announcing that she will be taking part in an exchange program with Worcester College, Oxford, and completing her studies at Brown University.

• Eva Mendes

  Eva Mendes is one of Hollywood’s leading ladies, but as a young girl, she suffered attacks from bullies. She explains, “I was a gawky, skinny girl with big teeth and that made me an easy target. I had two bullies and they tortured me all through junior high school.” And although they made her miserable at school, eventually, she found the courage she needed to push back against them. “Only later could I see that I was showing them my fear and that’s what they were pouncing on.” Mendes recalls, “When I finally stood up to my bully, that’s when things changed for me,” and she encourages those who are being bullied to stand up for themselves as well. Although Mendes is proud that she showed courage and fought back against her bullies, she does think they left their mark: “I’m sure those experiences explain why I’ve been so anxiety-ridden in my adult life.”

• Christina Aguilera

  Emma Watson isn’t the only one who has been ostracized for her fame and success: Christina Aguilera experienced bullying in school from kids who did not understand her love of performing. Aguilera has been in the spotlight since age six, and her childhood was anything but common. So while she was performing shows at night, the other kids at school were just trying to win their next soccer game and keep up with homework. Aguilera shares, “I would get a lot of cold shoulders because there was just no way they could relate to what I loved to do. You know, it’s not really normal for a child to just want to be in front of the camera and on stage … You know, it was hard for me to relate to other kids because I didn’t have the same interests.” The bullying and isolation got so bad that the tires on Aguilera’s family car were slashed, and they moved. But once she joined the Mickey Mouse Club, she enjoyed being with other kids who also enjoyed performing, and since then, Aguilera has seemed to leave her bullies behind, although she certainly seems to get beat up by the tabloids.

• Jessica Simpson

  Jessica Simpson is another star who still deals with bullies in the media, but unfortunately, tabloids were not the first to get a crack at her. Simpson seemed to be popular in school, as a homecoming queen and cheerleader, but she reports that she was a victim of the school’s mean girl group: “I had girls egging my home, writing curse words on the sidewalk in paint — just saying really nasty things about me.” It got so bad that, sadly, she quit cheerleading, but the star credits her unfortunate youthful experiences with helping her as a high profile celebrity, learning how to deal with constant scrutiny from the media. “I grew up in that fishbowl of always being judged and watched. I really do believe that was God preparing me for the life I’m living now.”

• Jessica Alba

  As a celebrated Hollywood sex symbol, it’s hard to imagine an unattractive, bullied Jessica Alba growing up. But the star insists that it’s true, and that she had a terrible time fitting in at school. Her family didn’t have as much money as others in her class, she had a Texan accent, and buck teeth. She was deemed uncool, and frequently attacked for being different. Alba spent her lunches in the nurses’ office for solitude and safety, and her dad had to walk her to school so that she wouldn’t be provoked. She never fought back, not wanting to lower herself to the level of her bullies, but she did find an outlet for her frustration and fear: acting classes. Alba recalls, “The idea that for an hour I could be someone different was amazing. I was determined that this was something I was going to be good at. This was a part of my life no bully could ruin.” She says that her lessons at drama school “changed everything” and sparked a lifelong love of acting. Alba encourages others who have been bullied to use fear as fuel: “You have to make it push you to become a stronger person, in whatever way that may be.”

• Sandra Bullock

  Sandra Bullock is both beautiful and stylish, not to mention talented, but back in school, her style wasn’t exactly appreciated. The actress’ mother was a German opera singer who would bring home European clothes for the young Bullock to wear, which the other kids thought were frumpy. Bullock also suffered from a lisp, which only added to the fire. But the star made it through her bully troubles, and she credits her mother with giving her the confidence to do so, remarking, “Uniqueness was something my mother pounded into me. I’ve made peace with the fact that the things that I thought were weaknesses or flaws were just me. I like them.” She encourages girls who are going through trouble to persevere, even in the face of bullies: “Don’t change. Be who you are.”

• Tom Cruise

  Tom Cruise, the star of Top Gun and Mission Impossible is beloved for his talent and looks worldwide, but as a kid, he wasn’t so appreciated. Cruise’s childhood was spent on the move, as his father constantly uprooted the family to find a new source of work and support the family. As a result, he was always establishing himself over and over again at new schools: “I was always the new kid with the wrong shoes, the wrong accent. I didn’t have the friend to share things with and confide in.” And at each school, he faced the fresh experience over and over again. He was small for his age and easily pushed around. Eventually, he learned to stand up for himself, but at every new school, he had to fight over and over again. “Your heart’s pounding, you sweat, and you feel like you’re going to vomit. I’m not the biggest guy, I never liked hitting someone, but I know if I don’t hit that guy hard he’s going to pick on me all year. I go, ‘You better fight.’ I just laid it down. I don’t like bullies.” Cruise found strength and inspiration in his mother, who he says, “rose to the occasion,” supporting the family on her own with three jobs. Once seeing her success, Cruise turned a corner, deciding, “I’m going to create, for myself, who I am, not what other people say I should be.”

Source:http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2011/11/02/15-famous-successful-people-bullied-school/

Fuel Efficiency in US

Guest Post by Holli Dowson

Dear Readers

Holli Dowson sent emailed me some time back. Found it useful and thought of sharing it with you all.

Rashid