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Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)

notes.rolandcrosby.com

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Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)

#41

Post by senectus1 »

porphyra wrote: post #18

Main Street in San Francisco was named after Charles Main. https://mountainviewpeople.blogspot.com/2007/09/charles-main... Here are some more interesting ones... * Mason jar was named after John Landis Mason, 19th century American tinsmith * Guppy (fish) was named after Robert John Lechmere Guppy, 19th century British naturalist * Silhouette was named after Étienne de Silhouette, 18th century French politican * Bloom…

>Main Street in San Francisco was named after Charles Main.

I feel this might be a bit of a cheeky urban legend, or at the very least a coincidence.

"Main st" has been used in western city's and towns for a lot longer than SF has been around.

Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)

#45

Post by gumby »

bongodongobob wrote: post #21
gumby wrote: post #7

Henry Gantt and the Gantt chart

As opposed to? What is a gantt if not someone's name?

I think most people believe it’s some sort of acronym, like a PERT Chart.

There aren’t a lot of names that end with tt, other than the given name “Matt”

Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)

#47

Post by BurritoAlPastor »

senectus1 wrote: post #41
porphyra wrote: post #18

Main Street in San Francisco was named after Charles Main. https://mountainviewpeople.blogspot.com/2007/09/charles-main... Here are some more interesting ones... * Mason jar was named after John Landis Mason, 19th century American tinsmith * Guppy (fish) was named after Robert John Lechmere Guppy, 19th century British naturalist * Silhouette was named after Étienne de Silhouette, 18th century French politican * Bloom…

>Main Street in San Francisco was named after Charles Main. I feel this might be a bit of a cheeky urban legend, or at the very least a coincidence. "Main st" has been used in western city's and towns for a lot longer than SF has been around.

San Francisco’s “Main Street” is in no way a major artery, however. Market Street served that function.

Here’s an 1853 map https://rumsey.geogarage.com/maps/g3463000.html in which today’s Main Street is only a block long. The map calls it Front St, although there’s another Front St nearby which kept the name – perhaps it was renamed Main to disambiguate once the streets connected?

Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)

#48

Post by JKCalhoun »

You might think Morgan Hill, California was named because of a prominent feature of the landscape. Nope, named after a guy named Morgan Hill.

(And the hill you see in Morgan Hill, CA is actually named El Toro — the Spanish word for "lawnmower". Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen, I'll be here for one more night.)

Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)

#49

Post by bazil376 »

senectus1 wrote: post #41
porphyra wrote: post #18

Main Street in San Francisco was named after Charles Main. https://mountainviewpeople.blogspot.com/2007/09/charles-main... Here are some more interesting ones... * Mason jar was named after John Landis Mason, 19th century American tinsmith * Guppy (fish) was named after Robert John Lechmere Guppy, 19th century British naturalist * Silhouette was named after Étienne de Silhouette, 18th century French politican * Bloom…

>Main Street in San Francisco was named after Charles Main. I feel this might be a bit of a cheeky urban legend, or at the very least a coincidence. "Main st" has been used in western city's and towns for a lot longer than SF has been around.

Or done in the first place for the sake of the double meaning
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