Very interesting men

1. Serge Voronoff

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serge_Voronoff

"""

Serge Abrahamovitch Voronoff was a French surgeon of Russian extraction who gained fame for his technique of grafting monkey testicle tissue on to the testicles of men for purportedly therapeutic purposes while working in France in the 1920s and 1930s. The technique brought him a great deal of money, although he was already independently wealthy.

In 1999, some speculated that the AIDS virus discovered in the 1980s entered the human population through Voronoff's transfer of monkey parts into humans in the 1920s. Presently, however, his efforts and reputation have been somewhat rehabilitated.

"""

Skip to 1:54

why did people want monkey nuts?

Strangest wiki ever

[edit] Reputation and legacy

In the 1990s, Voronoff's negative reputation was softened. In November 1991, one of the oldest peer-reviewed medical journals in the world, The Lancet, suggested that the file on Voronoff's work be reopened and in particular that "the Medical Research Council should fund further studies on monkey glands."[4] By 1994, there were calls for a qualified apology from the orthodox medical establishment for dismissing Voronoff's work.[16] In particular, since modern medicine has established that the Sertoli cells of the testes constitute a barrier to the immune system, rendering the testes an immunologically privileged site for the transplantation of foreign tissue, the thin slices of monkey testicles Voronoff implanted into the patient's testicles may in theory have survived to produce some benefit. There have recently been successful experiments reducing insulin requirements in diabetics by implanting into them pancreatic islet cells from pigs coated in Sertoli cells to insulate them from attack by the immune system. No immunosuppressive drugs were required. [21] In 1998, the sweeping popularity of Viagra brought forth references to Voronoff.[18][22] However, in 1999, some speculated that the AIDS virus discovered in the 1980s entered the human population through Voronoff's transfer of monkey parts into humans in the 1920s.[23]

By 2003, Voronoff's efforts in the 1920s reached trivia factoid status for newspapers.[24] However, as recently as 2005, Voronoff's work in the 1920s and 1930s was noted for setting the basis for the modern anti-aging strategy of replacing hormones—the internally secreted substances that decline with age—to regain the vitality and physical attributes associated with youth.[25] Such practices are currently advocated by alternative medicine organizations such as the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.[26]

2. Knut Haugland

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/world/04haugland.html?hpw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knut_Haugland

"Knut Haugland, the last surviving member of the six-man crew that sailed on the Kon-Tiki expedition in 1947, and a leader of the Norwegian resistance who helped carry out one of the most daring acts of sabotage of World War II, died in Oslo on Dec. 25. He was 92."

" On Oct. 18, 1942, he and three fellow commandos were parachuted onto the bleak Hardanger Plateau in Operation Grouse, organized by Britain’s newly formed Special Operations Executive. Their immediate task was to memorize blueprints and plans of the Norsk Hydro plant and await the arrival of additional team members by glider.

Phase 2 of the operation was a disaster. Both gliders missed their targets and crashed. Survivors were captured by the Nazis, interrogated under torture and executed.

Stranded, Mr. Haugland and his companions hunkered down for the winter in a hunting cabin, surviving on reindeer and oatmeal mixed with moss and lichen that they scraped from rocks. After identifying himself with the code words “three pink elephants,” Mr. Haugland transmitted back to Britain every night on a radio fashioned from a car battery and stolen fishing rods.

The British, encouraged, sent a six-man commando team in mid-February for Operation Gunnerside. The two units linked up successfully and completed their sabotage mission on Feb. 27.

Afterward, four members of the 10-man team skied hundreds of miles to the Swedish border. The rest, including Mr. Haugland, remained in Norway to work with the resistance."