Many of today's common words have quite amazing beginnings, many of which my be unfamiliar to many of us. Here is a list of fifteen often-used words with rather interesting roots.
15. Rudolph Boysen (1895-1950) - Boysenberries
The boysenberry was developed in the early 1920s by Rudolph Boysen of Napa, California, who later turned it over to Walter Knott for commercial development.
14. James Smithson (1765-1829) - The Smithsonian
In 1829 English scientist James Smithson left his fortune to the people of the United States to found an institution for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge." Smithson's impetus in providing for a research and educational institution in a new country on another continent remains a mystery. His bequest sparked widespread debate over what such a national institution might be. Once established, the Smithsonian Institution became part of the process of developing the U.S. national identity.
13. John Montague (The 4th Earl Of Sandwich - 1718-1792) - The Sandwich
The exact circumstances of the invention of the sandwich are still the subject of debate. A rumor in a contemporary travel book called Tour to London by Pierre Jean Grosley formed the popular myth that bread and meat sustained Lord Sandwich at the gambling table. The sober alternative is provided by Sandwich's biographer, N.A.M. Rodger, who suggests Sandwich's commitments to the navy, to politics and the arts mean the first Sandwich was more likely to have been consumed at his desk.
12. Captain Bo (Early 1600's - 1678) - Boo!
A legendary English freedom-fighter. His exploits allegedly inspired other combatants, who would regularly use a variation of his name, Boo, as a blood-curdling war cry or rally.
11. John Macadam (1827-1865)- Macadamia Nuts
John Macadam was a brilliant young scientist who emigrated to Australia soon after his graduation from Glasgow University. He achieved much in his short life. He impressed Baron Von Meuller (the man who laid out the original plantings of the Melbourne General Cemetery) to the extent that Von Mueller decided to name the famous Macadamia Nut after him.
10. James Thomas Brudenell (The 7th Earl Of Cardigan - 1797-1868) - The Cardigan Sweater
James Thomas Brudenell Cardigan was British general. In the Crimean War he led the disastrous cavalry charge at Balaklava (1854) that Tennyson immortalized in The Charge of the Light Brigade. The charge was made on a misunderstood order, and the brigade was destroyed. Quarrels with his officers showed him a vain and contentious man. The cardigan sweater was named for him.
9. Count Paul Stroganoff (1782-1817) - Beef Stroganoff
Named after 19th- century Russian diplomat Count Paul Stroganov, who loved his dishes rich indeed, it consists of thin slices of tender beef (usuallytenderloin or top loin), onions and mushrooms, all sautéed in butter and combined with a sour-cream sauce. Stroganoff is usually accompanied by rice pilaf or noodles.
8. Giovanni Casanova (1725-1798) - A Casanova
Giovanni Giacomo Casanova de Seingault was a Venetian adventurer and author. His autobiography, Historie de ma vie (Story of My Life), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of the customs and norms of European social life during the 18th Century. So famous a womanizer was the Italian-born libertine Giacomo Casanova that, a full two centuries after his death, his name remains synonymous with the art of seduction.
7. Adolphe Sax (1814-1894) - The Saxophone
At the beginning of the 19th century, a manufacturer of brass at woodwind musical instruments by the name of Charles Joseph Sax lived in Dinant. On November 6, 1814. Antoine-Joseph, who was to be known as Adolphe, the first of his eleven children, was born. During the next year, after the battle of Waterloo, Charles Joseph established himself in Brussels. King William I of the Lowlands appointed him his music instrument manufacturer and commissioned him to make the band instruments for the newly created army of his "new-fangled" kingdom.
6. Mr. and Mrs. Lemuel Le Grand Benedict (created in 1880's) - Eggs Benedict
Edward P. Montgomery related that the dish was created by Commodore E.C. Benedict, a banker and yachtsman, who died in 1920 at the age of 86. Montgomery also included a recipe for eggs Benedict, stating that the recipe had been given to him by his mother, who had received it from her brother, who was a friend of the Commodore. Mabel C. Butler of Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts in a November 1967 letter printed in The New York Times Magazine responded to Montgomery's claim by correcting that the "true story, well known to the relations of Mrs. Le Grand Benedict", who had created the dish out of boredom for Delmonico's in Manhattan.
5. Charles Moncke (1893-?) - The Monkey Wrench
A monkey wrench is a wrench with a fixed jaw and an adjustable jaw set at right angles to the
handle. Tradition says it was first devised by a London blacksmith named Charles Moncke,
Moncke changing to monkey by folk derivation. A difficulty with thi theory, as Mencken has
pointed out, is that the British call a monkey wrench a spanner. In 1932-33, the Boston
Transcript traced the invention to 1856, crediting it to a Yankee named Monk, employed by the
firm of Bemis and Call in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Dr. Salmon organized the Bureau of Animal Industry and served as its chief from 1884-1906. From 1907-12, he had charge of the veterinary department in the University of Montevideo, Uruguay. Salmonella a genus of microorganisms named after him, although the man who actually discovered Salmonella was his colleague, Theobald Smith, but Salmon claimed the credit.
3. Vidkun Quisling (1887-1945) - A Quisling
Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling was a Norwegian army officer and fascist politician who served as Minister President of German-occupied Norway during World War II from 1942 to 1945. During this time, he claimed to be the head of government while the constitutional government was exiled in London. After the war, Quisling was convicted of high treason and subsequently executed by firing squad. His surname has become an eponym for "traitor", especially a collaborationist.
2. Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911) - The Pulitzer Prize
Joseph Pulitzer, world-famous "yellow" journalist, died in 1911. In his will left $2 million for the establishment of a school of journalism at Columbia University. He also left a fund that established annual prizes for literature, drama, music and journalism. Since 1922 Pulitzer Prizes have also been awarded to cartoonists, do to his influence of the printing of The Yellow Kid.
1. Josh Billings (1818-1885) - To 'Josh' Someone
Josh Billings was the pen-name of humorist born Henry Wheeler Shaw. He was perhaps the second most famous humor writer and lecturer in the U.S. in the second half of the 19th Century, just after Samuel (Mark Twain) Clemens, although his reputation has not fared so well with later generations. Under the pseudonym "Josh Billings" he wrote in an informal voice full of the slang of the day, with often eccentric phonetic spelling, dispensing wit and folksy common-sense wisdom. His books include Farmers' Allminax, Josh Billings' Sayings, Everybody's Friend, and Josh Billings' Trump Kards.
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