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History of AIDS

AIDS, or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, is not a specific disease, but rather a syndrome of HIV infection paired with opportunistic infections. Because the Human Immunodeficiency Virus attacks the CD4 lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, the immune system of infected patients break down and ultimately stops functioning. The absence of immunity has made the patient vulnerable to diseases without any way to fight them, where a simple flu can debilitate an HIV-infected person.

Where did AIDS come from?

The place where it came from has been recently identified as Kinshasha in the Democratic Republic of Congo where a man with the same symptoms as AIDS died there in 1959. A blood sample was collected from his remains and laboratory results showed the man had an HIV infection. He probably died from complications caused by the viral infection.

AIDS Ribbon

How he was infected remained a mystery, however. Many experts believed that the disease was a form of SIV, or simian immunodeficiency virus, which was transferred from the chimpanzees to humans through ingestion of monkey brains and meat.

How was AIDS discovered?

The widespread incidence of AIDS in New York and California in 1981 led to its discovery. Recorded cases of otherwise healthy young men succumbing to a variety of diseases such as Karposi’s Sarcoma, a form of cancer, and Pneumocystis, a rare pneumonia, alarmed the medical community. Doctors called this outbreak GRID, or “gay-related immune deficiency,” which stigmatized the gay community as carriers of this new disease.

World AIDS Day

It was in 1982 when researchers began calling the new disease as AIDS to describe the occurrences of opportunistic infections, Karposi’s Sarcoma, and Pneumocystis pneumonia in healthy young men. A year later, 32 countries have confirmed incidences of the same disease in the United States.

Isolating the Virus

In 1983, French researchers at the Pasteur Institute have isolated a retrovirus that they believed caused AIDS. The virus was called human T-cell lymphotropic virus-type III/lymphadenopathy- associated virus (HTLV-III/LAV) by an international science committee. It was later called human immunodeficiency virus when the source of the virus has been traced to the SIV that killed the African monkeys.

Although the French researchers were the first to isolate the virus, the US government credits its discovery to Doctor Robert Gallo who claimed he has isolated retrovirus HTLV-III that was responsible for AIDS. Two years later, both viruses were confirmed to be the same. However, the credit for its discovery remained with Gallo. The virus was later renamed as HIV by an international committee of scientists.

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Available Treatments

After six years of intensive medical research, a new treatment for HIV arrives in 1987. FDA approved the use of the drug Retrovir (AZT, Zidovudine) in high doses to treat HIV patients. Five years later in 1992, FDA approved the first drug to be used in combination with AZT. The addition of the drug, Hivid, marked the beginning of HIV/AIDS combination therapies.

The fight against AIDS took another powerful step forward when power HIV-fighting drugs called Protease Inhibitors were introduced in 1996. Using these drugs in combination with existing HIV/AIDS drugs was effective in controlling HIV replication. The triple therapies seemed like the best option available for HIV/AIDS patients. However, a year later, scientists discovered that despite the potency of the drugs HIV/AIDS “hides” in reservoirs in the body, making it impossible to find the cure for HIV/AIDS.

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History of Cell Phones

The history of cellular phones may have originated in 1910 with Lars Magnus Ericsson who was said to have installed a telephone in his car. He traveled across the country, and whenever he saw a place where phone lines were accessible, he would connect to them using a pair of long electric wires.

In 1946, two Soviet engineers, G. Shapiro and I. Zaharchenko, successfully tested a mobile phone installed in a car. It could connect to a local telephone network up to a range of 20 kilometers. A year later, two Bell Labs engineers, Douglas H. Ring and W. Rae Young, proposed hexagonal cells in mobile phones in cars and using a three-directional antenna for transmitting and receiving signals. However, cellular technology was not developed until the 1960s when Richard Frenkiel and Joel Engel of Bell Labs developed the electronics.

Cell Phones

Science Fiction turned to Reality

Developed by Ericsson and sold in Sweden in 1956, the Mobile Telephone System A, or MTA, was the first fully automatic mobile phone system that required any kind of manual control. It was too heavy, however, with a total weight of 40 kilograms. In 1965, the model was upgraded to MTB with transistors and DTMF signaling. It only weighed 9 kilograms.

Following the heels of Ericsson, a young Soviet radio engineer named Leonid Kupriyanovich created in 1957 the portable mobile phone. He named it after himself as LK-1 or “radiophone.” This was a true mobile phone because it was a relatively small handset equipped with an antenna and rotary dial, and can connect with a base station that could connect to a local telephone network. Not only that, his phone weighed only 3 kilograms, could operate up to 30 kilometers, and had up to 30 hours of battery life. In 1958, Kupriyanovich resized his “radiophone” to a “pocket” version, which had an improved “light” weight of about 500 grams.

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Continuity of Service

In 1958, Russia continued to develop mobile phone systems, which connected with base stations that could serve up to six customers. However, the problem with these systems was the continuity of calls kept being disrupted when the phone went through several base stations. The caller had to stay in an area nearest to one base so the call’s signal would not be disrupted.

This problem was solved when, in 1970, Amos E. Joel, Jr., another Bell Labs engineer, invented an automatic “call handoff” system to allow mobile phones to move through several cell areas during a single conversation without loss of conversation.

Generations

Successfully launched in 1971, the ARP network in Finland could be considered as a zero generation cellular network. First generation networks started with the release of the Motorola DynaTAC on April 1973. Soon, the second-generation (2G) phones followed suit with GSM, CDMA and iDEN in the 1990s. Later, 3G networks ramped up their services with faster EDGE and GPRS features. The 2G phones have been gradually phased out of the market. Third-generation phones are now widespread in their use. Live streaming of radio and television is the future of the technology.

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History of Barbie

Growing up and playing with dolls, young girls often look forward to receiving a one-of-a-kind doll as a birthday or Christmas gift – the Barbie Doll. Among young girls and pre-teens, Barbie Dolls are a symbol of privilege. Aside from being fun to dress up with and to style the hair, Barbie Dolls are also great toys to share with other girls. Usually, one girl would have a set of clothes and accessories that another girl would like to have. They can lend and borrow clothes for their dolls and have fun styling the hair of their Barbie dolls.

How Barbie Was Born

The doll was invented in 1959 by Ruth Handler, the co-founder of Mattel Fashion, and was named Barbie in honor of Ruth’s daughter, Barbara. While watching her daughter play with paper dolls, Ruth noticed the child loves to give then adult roles. At that time, most dolls look like babies. Too few look like an adult.

Barbie

Because of her daughter, Ruth was inspired to create a three-dimensional toy based on adult paper dolls that have changeable clothes. She suggested it to her husband, Elliot, co-founder of Mattel Fashion, but he was not happy about it at first as well as the other executives at the company. A vacation in Germany changed their minds, however. Ruth saw a German doll called Lilli who was based on a comic strip. She bought three of them, gave one to Barbara, and took the other two to Mattel.

Ruth had to rework the doll’s body and give it a new name, Barbie. Barbie’s first introduction to the world was at the American Toy Fair in New York City on March 9, 1959. That is also the same date celebrated as Barbie’s birthday.

Additional Facts About The Barbie Doll

Barbie

Barbie is considered a fashion icon for young girls all over the world. She is trendy, she has glamour, and she has perfect style. To create new looks and unique styles, it takes a team of designers and artists to find one that fits a certain Barbie doll personality.

Who is Barbie?

The doll has a story behind its glamorous image. Based on novels written about her, Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts, and she is the daughter of George and Margaret Roberts from the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin. Barbie is still in high school, and she has an on-off romantic relationship with her boyfriend Ken Carson, who first appeared in 1961. They broke up in 2004, but were back together again in February 2006.

Barbie

Barbie has had over forty pets including cats and dogs, horses, a panda, a lion cub, and a zebra. She has owned a wide range of vehicles, including pink Corvette convertibles, trailers, and jeeps.

Barbie also holds a pilot’s license, and operates commercial airliners in addition to serving as a flight attendant. Barbie’s careers are designed to show that women can take on a variety of roles in life, and the doll has been sold with a wide range of titles including Miss Astronaut Barbie (1965), Doctor Barbie (1988), and Nascar Barbie (1998).

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History of Ballet

The beauty of ballet is in its simplicity. The dancers do not need to wear costumes to portray a character. They do not need many props to create a scene. Most of all, the story is told only through body movements, gestures, and facial expression. Words are never used; not even a whisper is heard from the dancers.

Like the mimes, ballet dancers use all of their body parts and facial expression as mediums of communication. This kind of skill is learned through extensive training in dance academies and ballet schools. Children as young as five learn the art of ballet dancing from teachers who are ballet dancers themselves. The movements, such as dancing on one’s toes or maintaining a position, are so difficult to execute even when the dancer has undergone sufficient training. And yet, so many students still flock to dance academies to learn ballet. Why? What makes ballet so special?

Ballet

Dancing for the Royal Court

All through history, dancing has been a medium for men and women to express what they feel. Often, dancing is performed during festivities when everyone is celebrating. Ballet, as a form of dancing, was no different.

Ballet began as a form of entertainment for the Italian Renaissance court, and the dancers were noble men and women who were there to please their King or Queen. In court, they wore costumes, and danced on an elaborately decorated stage. Most of the time, the dancers had to wear masks to portray a certain character such as a fairy or an animal. Not only that, they had to use props to make the story as clear as possible for the audience to understand.

The French Connection

In ballet history, France is acknowledged as the place where ballet as an art truly developed. The dance was brought to the French court by Catherine de Medici when she became the Queen of France in 1547. She brought Balthazar de Beaujoyeulx, a gifted musician, with her to be her chief musician.

Among the numerous court productions made for the Queen, Le Ballet Comique de la Reine was the most celebrated. Historians consider it the first staging of ballet as we know it today. It was performed in 1581 in honor of a wedding. The story it told was of Circe, one of the Greek mythical characters who had the power to turn men into beasts. The ballet was a success and was often emulated all over Europe.

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Dance Academies

The Ballet Comique de la Reine made France the capital of the ballet world. This reputation was further established when King Louis XIV, who loved dancing, founded the Royal Academy of Dancing to train professional dancers to perform for him and his court. Through the King’s academy, professional ballet was born.

Through serious training, the French ballet dancers developed skills that would have been impossible to do for amateurs. Companies of the same nature were established all over Europe. The most impressive of them was the Russian Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg, which was founded in 1738.

The skills of the French dancers became widely known, and they began performing publicly in theatres. However, in 1760, the French choreographer Jean Georges Noverre’s criticism of the use of costumes and masks changed how the dance was performed. He complained that the dancers cared too much about showing their technical skills, and too little about the true purpose of ballet, which was to represent characters and express their feelings.

Noverre urged that ballet dancers should stop using masks, bulky costumes, and large wigs to illustrate or explain the plot and character. He declared that the dancers could express these things just as effectively by using only their bodies and faces. So long as the dancers were comfortable in executing the movements, they could show a range of emotions such as anger, joy, fear, and love. So long as the dancers did not look strained or uncomfortable doing difficult steps, they could show such emotions as anger, joy, fear, and love. Noverre developed the ballet d’action, which is a form of dramatic ballet that told the story completely through movement.

Ballet

Modern Ballet

Ballet flourished as the dance grew more sophisticated and mature. New ballet techniques such as dancing on one’s toes were taught to women to make them appear as if they are dancing on air like fairies or angels. The male dancers functioned as porters, lifting the women to show how lightweight they are.

The manner of dressing also changed. Unlike the bulkiness of previous costumes, the light white skirt worn by Marie Taglioni, daughter of Italian choreographer Filippo Taglioni, made her look every bit like her character in La Sylphide (1832). As a fairy-like being, Marie danced with a skirt that ended between her knees and her ankles, and with her shoulders, neck, and arms bare for everyone to see.

Because of ballet’s universal appeal worldwide, the ballet dancers and choreographers took the techniques they have learned to other countries. They established schools and dance companies in Russia and the United States, producing noteworthy graduates such as Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, Maria Tallchief, Suzanne Farrell, Cynthia Gregory, Edward Villella, and Arthur Mitchell

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History of Alaska

Alaska, the 49th State, has a rich history behind it. From the Paleolithic period to the present, Alaska’s natural beauty, and its rich resources have been the land’s bane and boon to its natives. The Russians, Spanish, British, and Americans have at one time or another exploited Alaska’s otters for their fur, and the land for its oil.

Paleolithic Inhabitants

Alaska’s original inhabitants were of Asiatic descent. By that era, the natives of Alaska already had an organized society, which was segregated into three classes of people: the Honorables, which included the respected whalers and elders; the Commoners; and the Slaves. Their society was known to practice mummification at death just like the Egyptians. Occasionally, a slave was killed in honor of their dead, which means they also practice human sacrifice.

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Alaska’s Discovery

Alaska’s discovery happened in 1741 by a Danish seafarer aboard a Russian ship. The sailors hunted the animals and took their furs back to the Old World. The people were amazed by the quality of the furs that they were sought after. Because of the demand for more furs, Alaska became a favorite hunting and trading post. Catherine the Great, who was the monarch during this period, urged the hunters to treat the Native Aleuts with compassion. However, the hunters’ obsessive quest for furs made this impossible.

The Spanish Expeditions

Alaska eventually became part of Russia and this did not sit well with the Spanish monarch, King Charles the III. Between 1774 and 1791, King Charles sent out Spanish expeditions to the area. His efforts to claim even a part of Alaska for the glory of Spain were thwarted at every opportunity by the Russian armies. Eventually, King Charles abandoned his attempts at getting a piece of the Alaskan peninsula from the Russians. He decided both the Russians and the Natives were too formidable for the Spanish.

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British Subjects

During this same period, the British also attempted to get a piece of the Alaskan territory. The possible uses of Alaska’s sea otters were too profitable for British navigators to ignore. Captain James Cook and his crew set sail to explore the Alaskan territory in 1778. When they returned to England, they showed off their beautiful fur coats that were taken from Alaska’s freshly killed otters. Upon seeing these fur coats, the British decided to send out more expeditions to Alaska. As a result, the town of Wrangell became subject to British rule.

How Alaska Became Part of America

The United States purchased Alaska from the Russians for 7.2 million dollars in April 9, 1867. It did not become a state of the United States until July 7, 1958 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act. On that day, Alaska became the 49th state of the United States of America.

All through the period when Alaska was a part of America, it primarily served as a rich source of gold. Many miners, opportunists, and explorers from all over the States migrated to Alaska because of the gold rush. Eventually, they settled there and made the wintery land their home.

Alaska Flag

Later, oil was discovered at Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic coast. A proposal for constructing a pipeline to distribute oil to the other states was originally denied because there was a land dispute in that area with Native Americans. Unless the dispute was settled, no pipeline would be built.

The discovery of “black gold” together with the claims of Native Americans to take back the land that was originally theirs led to the signing of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The Act required the Native Americans to relinquish their claims on that particular area in exchange for 44 million acres of land in other parts of Alaska. In addition to that, they were also awarded 963 million dollars.

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History of Disneyland

For many children all over the world, Disneyland is the Mecca of childhood dreams. Theme park attractions such as colorful stage and street shows with dancing and singing fairy tale characters, exciting themed rides and games, special tours to movie sets of popular films, and great food and accommodations mark the total family-friendly Disneyland experience. Every year, millions of tourists visit the theme parks of Disneyland in different parts of the world.

The Idea of a Theme Park

The idea for a theme park came to Walt Disney when he was visiting Griffith Park with his daughters Diane and Sharon. While watching his daughters ride the merry-go-round, Disney thought of building a place where both adults and children can appreciate and enjoy the rides and games.

Although many people have written to Disney, requesting to visit the movie sets of popular films, Disney thought a regular movie set would appear generally uninteresting to the regular moviegoer. This urging from the fans, however, germinated the idea of a theme park that can recreate the fantasy seen in Disney movies.

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The Happiest Place on Earth

Building the “Happiest Place on Earth,” as Disneyland is known throughout the world, took a long time and many highly skilled and creative people. To begin with, Walt Disney went to the Stanford Research Institute and hired a consultant, Harrison Price, to gauge the proper area to locate the theme park based on the area’s potential growth. Based on Price’s report, Disney bought 160 acres of land in Anaheim, southeast of Los Angeles in Orange County.

Funding was solved through a partnership between Disney and ABC Network. To raise funds for the theme park, Disney created a children’s show called Disneyland. In exchange for this, ABC Network partially funded Disney’s theme park project.

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For the first five years, Disneyland the TV Show was owned by a corporation composed of Walt Disney himself, Walt Disney Productions, Western Publishing, and ABC Network. In 1960, after it bought out Walt Disney and Western Publishing from the partnership, Walt Disney Productions bought out ABC Network’s share in the project. By this time, enough funding was available for construction to begin in July 18, 1954. Exactly one year later, the Disneyland Theme Park opened to the public.

Black Sunday

The day before the opening day, a press conference was held. It was by-invitation only, as well as, the opening day festivities. However, the event did not go as smoothly as planned. The “special preview” was plagued by problems: counterfeit tickets, newly built asphalt grounds, an unusually hot day, and a plumbers’ strike that left the water fountains dry.

The counterfeit tickets caused the crowd to swell. The freshly poured asphalt was still soft and the women’s high-heeled shoes sank into soft park grounds. Food vendors ran out of food. A gas leak in Fantasyland caused theme park management to close down Adventureland, Frontierland, and Fantasyland for the afternoon.

The unusually hot temperature made the people thirsty, but since Walt Disney chose to have running toilets instead of fountains, there was no option but to buy Pepsi, one of the sponsors, from the kiosks. People were enraged and blamed Pepsi for deliberately taking advantage of the dry drinking fountains to sell more soda.

To counter the bad press received by Disneyland that day, Walt Disney invited special guests and friends in the media for a “second viewing” so they could enjoy the true Disneyland experience. After the viewing, Walt held a party at the Disneyland Hotel for them.

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Because of all the problems encountered on that fateful Sunday, it will be forever referred as “Black Sunday” by Walt and his 1955 executives. Since that day, Disney has referred to July 18 as Dedication Day, and never mentioned July 18 as the opening day, even in the park’s publications.

From Theme Park to Resort

The transition from theme park to resort began in the 1990s. Disneyland Park, Disneyland Hotel, and the parking lot as well as the surrounding properties were marked for integration into a major vacation resort development. However, the park’s management was plagued by personnel problems and mismanagement issues, which pushed executives to shift and change people often.

Finally, in 2003, Matt Ouimet, former president of the Disney cruise Line, took over the management of Disneyland resort. Together with Greg Emmer as Senior Vice-President of Operations, they were able to turn around the problems regarding cosmetic maintenance and safety maintenance schedules.

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History of Email

Email was much older than the Internet itself. It was actually never invented, but evolved from very simple beginnings. Email messages were not sent, but left behind, much like leaving a note in someone else’s desk. The message would be left behind in a location that would be easily seen by the user when logged in.

Like Leaving a Note

The MAILBOX was probably the first email system of this type. It was first used at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1965. Another early program, SNDMSG, sent messages on the same computer. Therefore, before the Internet came, email messaging could only be done with the same computer.

Once the Internet was developed, making sure the message was sent to the right person became a problem. While the computers were able to recognize and “talk” with each other, identifying a specific person to receive the email message was much more complicated.

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Nice Hack

Addressing the email message was invented by Ray Tomlinson in 1972. Like many Internet inventors, Tomlinson worked for Bolt Beranek and Newman as an ARPANET contractor. He chose the @ symbol from the computer keyboard to denote sending messages from one computer to another. Since then, for anyone using the Internet, addressing the email was as simple as nominating name-of-the-user@name-of-the-computer. The “nice hack” described by Internet pioneer Jon Postel lasted until this day.

Other Features

The other features of email like sorting and labeling emails in folders came much later. Larry Roberts invented some email folders for his boss so he could sort his mail, a big advance. In 1975, John Vital developed some software to organize email. By 1976, email had really taken off, and commercial packages were available for users.

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Offline Readers

Connecting with the Internet cost a lot in those times. With connection charges costing many dollars a minute, it mattered to be able to prepare a reply without being connected to a telephone, and then get on the network to send it. Aside from the costs, problems such as keyboard functions such as delete keys and backspace keys did not work well, and lack of the “wrap around” text feature on the screen, vexed email users. Offline readers helped a lot.

Using offline readers allowed email users to store their email on their own personal computers, then read them, and prepare replies without actually being connected to the network. This setup is much similar to using an email client like Microsoft Outlook today.

Email Standard Protocols

Because the email’s features progressed from crude to sophisticated, standard protocols would have to be developed, especially for use in offline readers. One of the two standards, SMTP, or Simple Message Transfer Protocol, was the first important email protocol used. Although, it is still open to attacks from worms and viruses, the development of a stronger standard continues until this day.

The other standard is called POP, or Post Office Protocol. POP was an important standard that allowed different mail systems to work with each other. Both SMTP and POP were important configurations for email clients such as Microsoft Outlook to download email from the server, and to send email through the server using a desktop program.

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History of Google

Who would have thought that two grad students from Stanford would become famous for creating the world’s fastest and most reliable search engine? When Larry Page and Sergey Brin met, the latter was just one of the guys assigned to show around new students like Page. They mostly disagreed with each other on a lot of things during that first meeting. However, the Sergey and Larry did not end a budding friendship after that. In fact, they collaborated on a project called BackRub a year later.

From Backrub to Google

BackRub was the predecessor of Google. It ran on Standford’s servers for over a year before it had to be closed down because it had been sucking up too much bandwidth for the university to handle. Yet, Larry and Sergey did not end the project.

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To continue the operation of the budding search engine, they changed its name to Google. The name was a play on the Mathematical term “googol,” which is a number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. It was a perfect name for what Sergey and Larry had in mind – a search engine that could organize a seemingly infinite amount of information on the web.

Google’s First Office: Susan’s Garage

Since they have lost the use of Stanford’s servers, Sergey and Larry needed to find funds to support the costs of buying and running their own servers. Lucky for the whole world, a white knight came to their rescue. Sun co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim wrote them a check for $100,000 to an entity that doesn’t exist yet: a company called Google Inc.

The two guys immediately setup shop in the garage of Susan Wojcicki, Sergey Brin’s sister-in-law, at 232 Santa Margarita, Menlo Park. They filed for incorporation in California on September 4, 1998. Shortly after, they opened a bank account in the new company’s name and deposited Andy’s check. Their first employee was Craig Silverstein, a fellow Computer Science grad student at Stanford. By December, Google was named by PC Magazine as one of the Top 100 Web Sites for 1998.

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Moving Into Googleplex

After only a year, Google has become one of the fastest-rising Silicone Valley companies of the 20th century. They hired more employees, a company dog, and a chef for its 40 or so employees. The year after that, Google won the Webby Awards, forged a partnership with Yahoo!, launched Adwords and its Google Toolbar, and was hailed as the largest search engine in the world when it hit the billion-URL index.

A few more years after that, Google grew its search engine index to 3 billion, launched many features of search such as image and news, offered many Google products like the Google Appliance and Froogle, and expanded its global reach by releasing Google in 26 languages and building offices outside the United States.

Google

Later, in March 2004, Google moved its entire operations to the new “Googleplex” at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, which gave Google’s more than 800 employees a campus environment.

It’s Not the End Yet

Best known for its “Do No Evil” slogan and well-respected among industry insiders, Google has come a long way from the garage office and the crude mechanism of BackRub. With nearly a thousand employees under their wing, Google continues to develop and enhance how people experience the Internet. And it doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.

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A Brief History of Hawaii

Admired for its paradise islands and rich cultural history, Hawaii continues to seduce tourists to revisit it again and again. Its beaches are famous surfer havens that international surfing champions frequent. The state also boasts a fearsome chain of volcanoes because of its location in the Pacific. Aside from that, Hawaii is a rich source of natural resources such as coconuts, bananas, and sugarcane products. More than the beaches, volcanoes and the natural resources, however, Hawaii takes pride in its people, the Kanaka Maoli – a warm and happy group who has managed a kingdom even before the British colonized them.

How Hawaii Was Inhabited

The Hawaiian Archipelago has the most isolated inhabited islands in the world. The islands are located almost 2400 miles from California, 3800 miles from Japan, and 2400 miles from the Marquesas Islands. The last group of islands is believed to be the place from which the first settlers, the Menehune, arrived in Hawaii around 300 to 400 AD. This settlement was later displaced by a group of settlers from Tahiti. Under the Multiple Migration Theory, the first settlement of the Menehune people was overthrown by a group of taller and physically stronger people from Tahiti.

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How Hawaii Was Discovered

The isolation of Hawaii from the rest of the world is the reason why it was also one of the last places discovered by the New World. In 1778, while searching for the fabled Northwest Passage between Alaska and Asia, Captain James Cook and his crew stumbled upon a group of islands so far north in the Pacific. He named them the Sandwich Islands. After Cook, many Europeans and Americans explored the islands.

How The Kamehamehas Changed Hawaii

Hundreds of thousands of Kanaka Maoli, the first people of Hawaii, lived in the islands in a highly organized, self-sufficient, subsistent social system. Since the first contact with explorers and missionaries, however, this number has been drastically reduced to less than 40,000 people.

The reduction in numbers was caused partly by war, and partly by diseases. The Kanaka Maoli were originally healthy, but unprepared for the diseases of the New World such as smallpox. Aside from that, the peoples of Hawaii who were divided before as Kingdoms began to fight more aggressively with the availability of western weapons such as swords and guns.

Hawaii Beach

However, thirty-two years after the arrival of Captain James Cook and his crew, Hawaii became united into one Great Kingdom under Kamehameha I with the help of a large army and foreign weapons.

His son, Kamehameha II, succeeded him when he died. Kamehameha II is also named Liholiho and like his father, changed Hawaii not only politically, but also socially. In his reign, he eliminated the kapu (“taboo”) system and broke one of them by eating with his stepmother and other women of chiefly rank. Men and women eating together is one of the kapus forbidden in the old system and punishable by death.

After Liholiho, Kamehameha III continued to carry the torch for the family’s propensity for making evolutionary changes with Hawaii’s politics and governance arena. Under his rule, Kamehameha III issued the Hawaiian Declaration of Rights and promulgated the Constitution for the Hawaiian Islands, changing the governance of Hawaii from an absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy.

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After the third Kamehameha, two more followed to rule Hawaiian monarchy. When the fifth Kamehameha, Lot, was dying, he tried to ask his daughter to ascend to the throne, but she refused and chose instead to live a private life with her British husband. Despite this refusal, a woman was able to rule the land. Queen Lili’uokalani was the only woman and the last monarch to rule Hawaii before the Kingdom was overthrown by foreigners.

Hawaii’s Annexation with and Statehood in the United States

After the monarchy’s line of ascendancy ended in 1893, the Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown by the European and American merchants and traders. Hawaii became an independent republic from 1894 to 1898, when it was annexed to the United States as a territory. It became the 50th state of America when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill on March 18, 1959 allowing its statehood. After statehood, Hawaii quickly became a modern state with a construction boom and rapidly growing economy.

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History of NAFTA

NAFTA, or North American Free Trade Agreement, covers Canada, the United States, and Mexico, making NAFTA the world’s largest free trade area in terms of GDP. President George H.W. Bush, Mexican President Salinas, and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney signed the NAFTA in 1992. However, it was not signed into law until December 8, 1993 by President Bill Clinton. It was promptly enforced on January 1, 1994.

NAFTA’s Beginnings

The catalyst for NAFTA began with President Ronald Reagan, who lobbied for creating a unified North American Market. The concept behind NAFTA is to promote economic growth by easing the movement of goods and services between the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

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Actually, this concept has already existed even before NAFTA was created. In 1984, Congress passed the Trade and Tariff Act. Signed in 1988 and went in effect in 1989, the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, which could be a precursor of the NAFTA, is now suspended because of NAFTA.

Prior to NAFTA, Mexican tariffs on U.S. imports were 250% higher than U.S. tariffs on Mexican imports. In 1991, Canada requested a trilateral agreement, which then led to NAFTA. In 1993, concerns about liberalization of labor and environmental regulations led to the adoption of two addendums to NAFTA.

Why was NAFTA created?

Article 102 of the NAFTA agreement outlines its purpose:

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NAFTA’s Positive Impacts

The creation of NAFTA practically eliminated high tariffs for goods and services that were transported over the borders between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The elimination of tariffs reduced inflation, which subsequently reduced the cost of imports. Aside from that, because there were no tariffs anymore, the flow of goods and services between the three countries was not hampered. This spurred trade between and increased capital for foreign investors.

Elimination of tariffs is not the only positive impact of NAFTA on member countries. The agreement allows companies in member countries to bid on government contracts. This means foreign investors have equal rights as the local investors. It also guarantees they will receive fair market value for their investments because NAFTA provides a legal mechanism for investors to make claims against a government, if needed.

NAFTA

In agriculture, NAFTA has been especially helpful in increasing U.S. exports to Mexico. Mexico is the top exporter of beef, rice, soybean meal, corn sweeteners, apples, and beans. It is also the second largest exporter for corn, soybeans, and oils. Because of NAFTA, the U.S. agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico have grown significantly.

Aside from the distribution of goods, NAFTA also made it possible for easier expansion of services between member countries. Trade barriers such as strict regulations often hamper easy trade of goods and services between borders. Because of NAFTA, trade barriers in nearly all service sectors were eliminated. NAFTA requires authorities to use open administrative procedures and publish all regulations.

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