The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) was founded by France on February 21st, 1948. France, together with other drivers, designed a points system that would become the foundation of NASCAR racing. As early as 1948, the schedule consisted of 52 modified races that were run on dirt tracks. The first National Championship was won by Red Byron.
The Early Years
Erwin "Cannonball" Baker had a huge impact on the history of NASCAR. He was named the first commissioner, and being an accomplished racer himself, he allowed almost no changes to the cars that were raced. Baker earned his nickname from setting dozens of land speed records.
Glenn Dunnaway became the first NASCAR driver to be disqualified after it was discovered that he had altered the rear springs in his cars. However, over a 10-15 year period, modifications were allowed for safety and performance periods, until by the mid-1960s almost all stock cars were built solely for the purpose of racing them.
Almost all races were held on tracks that were between half a mile and a mile long. Some tracks that are still in use are the Martinsville Speedway and the Darlington Raceway, as well as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway which was built in 1909. The Daytona International Speedway was built in 1959 and at 2.5 miles is now the most famous on the NEXTEL Cup Circuit.
The Later Years
In the early 1970s, the history of NASCAR took a dramatic turn. It increased in popularity due in large part to an altered points system as well as new sponsorship including the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
In 1979, the Daytona 500 was shown on CBS, making it the first NASCAR race to be shown from start to finish on television. Going into the last lap, leaders Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison got into a wreck, allowing a third driver to pass them both for the win. Yarborough and Allison got into a fistfight, and the drama and emotion that was shown in that race might be the defining moment in the history of NASCAR. Its popularity has steadily increased since.
Today, NASCAR is one of the most popular and profitable sports in America. The 2006 NEXTEL Cup Season consisted of 36 races run over a 10 month period, each race with at least million in prize money. With the sport gaining credibility and its drivers gaining immense popularity over the last ten years, it may be said that the history of NASCAR is just beginning.
Acupuncture and moxibustion are important component procedures in traditional Chinese medicine which prevent and treat disease by puncturing certain points on the body with needles or applying heat with ignited moxa wool. Of marked efficacy and requiring but simple equipment, they have been widely popular in China and elsewhere for thousands of years.
The initiation and development of the art of acupuncture and moxibustion have undergone a long historical process. They are summaries of experience of the Chinese labouring people of many centuries in their struggle against disease. As early as in the Stone Age, people used needles fashioned of stone for curative purposes. These are known as bian and are a rudiment of acupuncture. When human society entered the Bronze and then the Iron Age, needles made of these metals were substituted for the stone bian.
And with the development of social productive technique, needling instruments were constantly improved, providing conditions for the further refinement of acupuncture. Moxibustion originated after the introduction of fire into man's life. It is assumed that while warming themselves by the fire, people in ancient times accidentally found relief or disappearance of certain pain or illness when definite areas of the skin were subjected to burning.
Moxa leaves were later chosen as the material for cauterization as they are easily lit and the heat produced is mild and effective in removing obstruction of channels and collaterals. And so the art of moxibustion was established.
The earliest extant medical classic in China, Huangdi Neijing, was compiled between 500-300 B.C. It is a summary of the medical experience and theoretical knowledge prior to the Warring States period. The book, which consists of two parts, Suwen and Lingshu, describes the basic theories of traditional Chinese medicine, such as yin-yang, the five elements, zang-fu, channels and collaterals, qi (vital energy), and blood, etiology, pathology, diagnostic methods and differentiation of syndromes, as well as basic knowledge concerning acupuncture points and needling methods. Following Neijing, there appeared quite a number of treatises on acupuncture and moxibustion written in different dynasties, among which representative ones are:
Zhenjiu compiled by Huangfu Mi of the Jin Dynasty on the basis of Neijing, Nanjing (A Classic of Difficult Questions), and others. These books give a comprehensive description of the basic theories and knowledge of acupuncture and moxibustion, laying a foundation for the development of acupuncture and moxibustion into an independent branch of traditional Chinese medicine.
Tongren Shuxue Zhenjiu Tujing (lllustrated Manual on Points for Acupuncture and Moxibustion Shown on a Bronze Figure, 1026 A.D.) was compiled by Wang Weiyi, an acupuncturist of the Song Dynasty, after thoroughly checking the acupuncture points of the fourteen channels. The next year, i.e., A.D. 1027, Wang Weiyi sponsored the casting of two life-size bronze figures marked with acupuncture points, a momentous event in the development of acupuncture and moxibustion.
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