Civil Rights
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
Innovation, patents, science, technology and world-changing contributions.
Pioneers, champions, Negro Leagues, records, activism and excellence.
Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.
Black towns, communities, institutions and places where history happened.
Moments that changed communities, movements, institutions and the nation.
Mansa Musa was the ruler of the Mali Empire in West Africa. Details recorded here should be sourced; unknown information is left blank.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
Rip Esselstyn | |
|---|---|
Esselstyn in June 2013 | |
| Born | February 16, 1963 Upstate New York, U.S. |
| Education | University of Texas, Austin |
| Occupations | Health activist, food writer |
| Spouse | Jill Kolasinski |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Caldwell Esselstyn (father) George Crile, Jr. (grandfather) George Washington Crile (great-grandfather) George Crile III (uncle) |
| Writing career | |
| Subjects | Low-fat diets, whole-food diets, plant-based diets |
| Website | plantstrong |
Rip Esselstyn (born February 16, 1963) is an American health activist, food writer, and former firefighter and triathlete. He is an advocate of a low-fat, whole-food, plant-based diet that excludes all animal products and processed foods.[1] He calls it a "plant strong" diet, a term he has trademarked.[2] He is the author of The Engine 2 Diet (2009), My Beef With Meat (2013), Plant-Strong (2016), and The Engine 2 Seven-Day Rescue Diet (2017). Esselstyn is the founder and CEO of PLANTSTRONG,[3] a company focused on whole food, plant-based nutrition and combating the rise of ultra-processed foods.
Esselstyn was born in Upstate New York on February 16, 1963, the son of Ann and surgeon Caldwell Esselstyn. He was named after Rip Van Winkle. He is the grandson of surgeon George Crile, Jr. and the great-grandson of surgeon George Washington Crile. His father is a former Olympic rowing champion who was one of the early advocates of a whole-food, plant-based diet in the prevention and reversal of heart disease.[4] He has a sister named Jane, a brother Zeb (Caldwell III) (and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio.[5][6]
Esselstyn graduated from the Mercersburg Academy in 1981. He attended the University of Texas, Austin on a swimming scholarship from 1982 to 1986.[7] During that time, he became an All-American swimmer.[8] After college, he became a triathlete and competed for approximately ten years.[2]
In 1997, he retired as a triathlete and turned his attention towards becoming a firefighter and emergency medical technician, joining Engine 2 of the Austin Fire Department.[5][9] He retired from firefighting to focus on becoming an advocate for plant-based nutrition.[10]
In 2019, Esselstyn rebranded his Engine 2 business as PLANTSTRONG, expanding into a line of whole-food, plant-based food products, meal planning services, and educational content. The company emphasizes simplicity, accessibility, and avoiding ultra-processed foods. As CEO, Esselstyn has positioned PLANTSTRONG as a voice in the fight against nutritional confusion, advocating for evidence-based, minimally processed diets.[11][12] He also hosts the PLANTSTRONG Podcast, where he interviews experts in nutrition, lifestyle medicine, and plant-based living.[13]
While he grew up eating the standard American diet, Esselstyn switched to a whole-foods plant-based diet in 1987, cutting out meat, fish, eggs and dairy.[14] He was inspired by Dave Scott, who was a vegetarian.[7][15] Esselstyn describes his approach as "plant-strong", and has trademarked the term. He says he avoids the word "vegan" in case it discourages people, and believes that "plant strong" sounds healthier and more inclusive.[2]
In 2003, when a co-worker at the Engine 2 fire department discovered that his cholesterol was very high, Esselstyn encouraged the Engine 2 team to switch to a whole foods, plant-based diet to help their colleague. This experience eventually led him to write The Engine 2 Diet, which begins with a foreword by T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study (2005).[10][16] The Engine 2 Diet appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list[17][18] and was endorsed by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who made a public appearance with Esselstyn in January 2013.[19] In 2010, Whole Foods Market included The Engine 2 Diet as a "Healthy Eating Partner".[20]
In 2013, Esselstyn released another book, My Beef With Meat.[21][22][23] It was a New York Times best seller ("Advice, How-To, & Miscellaneous List") that reached the #1 spot for the week of June 2, 2013.[24]
Esselstyn appeared, along with his father and T. Colin Campbell, in the 2011 American documentary on whole foods, plant-based eating, Forks Over Knives. He later developed and starred in the follow-up documentary, Forks Over Knives Presents: The Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue with Rip Esselstyn.[25][26]
Esselstyn is married to Jill Kolasinski, with whom he has three children.[5]
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Rip Esselstyn (born February 16, 1963) is an American health activist, food writer, and former firefighter and triathlete. He is an advocate of a low-fat, whole-food, plant-based diet that excludes all animal products and processed foods. He calls it a "plant strong" diet, a term he has trademarked. He is the author of The Engine 2 Diet (2009), My Beef With Meat (2013), Plant-Strong (2016), and The Engine 2 Seven-Day Rescue Diet (2017). Esselstyn is the founder and CEO of PLANTSTRONG, a company focused on whole food, plant-based nutrition and combating the rise of ultra-processed foods.
Uncle Sam was an American brand of ready-to eat breakfast cereal that was first introduced in 1908 by U.S. Mills of Omaha, Nebraska. The company relocated to Needham, Massachusetts sometime after the 1970s. Attune Foods of San Francisco acquired Uncle Sam Cereal in 2009. In 2013 Post Foods acquired Attune Foods. Post Foods discontinued Uncle Sam cereal in December 2024. Uncle Sam Original cereal, since 1908 has consisted of toasted whole wheat berry kernels that are steamed, rolled and toasted into flakes. Whole flaxseed is then mixed with the flakes. This high-fiber, ready-to-eat cereal has a low glycemic index and has an exceptionally high amount of omega-3 per serving because of the flaxseed. It is marketed as a "natural laxative" because of the presence of flaxseed, though clinical support for this assertion is scant. Because of its nutritional profile, Uncle Sam Cereal has been recommended by several well-known dietitians and nutritionists, as well as in top-selling diet books such as Rip Esselstyn's The Engine 2 Diet, Belly Fat Cure, Sugar Busters and the South Beach Diet.
The Renault DiET engine also known as "D engine" or "D-Type" is a straight-4 automobile petrol engine from Renault designed to replace the existing Cléon-Fonte engine in the Renault Twingo.
The Mercedes-Benz M180 (along with the related M127, M108, M129, M130, M114, and M123) is a family of single overhead camshaft inline-6 internal combustion engines used in Mercedes-Benz vehicles from the early 1950s to the mid‑1980s. Featuring a reverse-flow cylinder head, staggered valve arrangement, and rockers actuated by a single overhead camshaft driven by a duplex chain, these engines were produced in both carburetted and fuel‑injected versions with displacements ranging from 2.2 to 2.8 litres. The original design by Wolf-Dieter Bensinger is a 2.2 L (2,196 cc; 134.0 cu in) single overhead camshaft inline-six internal combustion engine introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in April 1951 to power the company's new 220 (W187). Although introduced in parallel with the M186 “big six,” that engine family (M188, M189, M194, M198, M199) is of completely different design with little or no part interchangeability. The M180, however, influenced the design of Mercedes‑Benz’s OHC four‑cylinder engine, the M121 in 1955, sharing not only the architecture but many components. It in turn influenced its diesel sibling, the OM621, in 1958. These evolved into the M115 and OM615 engines in 1968. The diesel range later expanded into the larger‑displacement OM616 in 1973 and the five‑cylinder OM617 in 1974.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Madam C.J. Walker