Jinn of Quality and Risk

Scientific American: consumption of a low-calorie yet nutritionally balanced diet, works incredibly well in a broad range of animals, increasing longevity and prolonging good health. Those findings suggest that caloric restriction could delay aging in humans, too. Unfortunately, for maximum benefit, people would probably have to reduce their caloric intake by roughly 30 percent, equivalent to dropping from 2,500 calories a day to 1,750. Few mortals could stick to that harsh a regimen, especially for years on end. But what if someone could create a pill that mimicked the physiological effects of eating less without actually forcing people to go hungry?

Known and observed facts, for more than 60 years: rats fed a low-calorie diet live longer on average than free-feeding ones; they have a reduced incidence of age-related disease; some of them survive longer than the oldest-living control-group animals -- i.e. maximum lifespan, not merely average lifespan, increases. These findings have been replicated in yeast, fruit flies, worms, fish, spiders, mice, and hamsters. Long-term projects currently suggest that primates respond to caloric restriction almost identically to rodents. All evidence so far indicates that caloric restriction, also known as undernutrition without malnutrition, has health-promoting and anti-aging effects likely to be universal in mammals — hence it could and should help people live longer and in better health.

See also: Dr. Walford's anti-aging diet, the Caloric Restriction Information Center, and a review of Richard Weindruch's Scientific American article (1996-Jan), Caloric Restriction and Aging. 

The first rubber soled shoes called plimsolls were developed and manufactured in the United States in the late 1800s. In 1892, nine small rubber manufacturing companies consolidated to form the United States Rubber Company. In 1917, that company introduced the "Keds" brand of sneakers, the first mass-market version; Converse, founded in 1908, introduced their own version of sneakers in 1917 also. The generic name "sneaker" was coined by Henry Nelson McKinney, an advertising agent, to emphasize that one could walk silently with rubber soles. Initially, a pair of Keds sold for 1-2 dollars.

Keds remained a big seller until the late 1960s, when sneakers got a face-lift from University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman [and business major Phil Knight], whose waffle-soled running shoe would form the foundation of Nike and trigger an explosion in the athletic shoe business. Knight and Bowerman formed a company in 1964 to market a lighter and more comfortable shoe designed by Bowerman. In 1968, this company became NIKE, Inc. -- named for the [ancient] Greek goddess of Victory. At first, Knight and Bowerman sold their shoes in person, at track meets across the Western US...

This foray into the history of sneakers was inspired by the 85th anniversary celebration of Forbes magazine (last November). On that occasion, Forbes listed 85 innovations covering the years 1917 to 2002, because innovation is the spark of capitalism. Starting with sneakers in 1917. 

Cargill, based in Minneapolis, is the largest US private company in terms of revenue. Forbes: For 137 years Cargill has stuck to the disciplined, discreet ways that have made it the world's largest and most successful private company. ... Earnings more than doubled last year. At $50 billion in annual sales, Cargill is twice the size of its closest rival, Archer Daniels Midland, and bigger than Procter & Gamble or AOL Time Warner or Merrill Lynch. In sales Cargill is the 19th-largest company in America. Its 97,000 employees run more than a thousand production sites and operate out of 59 countries. They feed the world's herds and fertilize its crops. They store the harvest, process it and transport it around the globe. They finance and hedge the risk. Cargill, or farmers working for it, raise 17% of the world's turkeys. In the U.S. it controls 22% of beef production and 25% of grain and oilseed exports. Its vast financial trading arm is a leading commodity broker and a heavyweight in sovereign debt, having reportedly controlled a quarter of Russia's bond market.

Other relatively obscure but very large private companies include Glencore (commodities, $43.7b sales, based in Switzerland) and Bosch (auto and truck parts, €35b sales, 225,000 employees, based in Germany).