TWO DOZEN AMERICANS WHO BECAME WORDS
Europe has its Louis Braille and Earl of Sandwich, but Americans have also added their surnames to the language. Among the hundreds:
Ambrose Burnside -- Check out the burnsides on this guy. His bushy face, with chin shaven, was originally called burnsides but later inverted to sideburns.
The Car Guys -- Henry Ford, Walter Chrysler, John DeLorean, Carroll Shelby, and don't forget William Harley and Arthur Davidson.
Eldridge Gerry -- This friend of the Founding Fathers was governor when Massachusetts was redistricted in 1812. One district looked like a salamander, so the Boston Gazette coined the term "gerrymander" -- to carve up districts for political gain. The practice has not softened.
The Music Guys -- Robert Moog, Ray Dolby, Amar Bose, Leo Fender, Orville Gibson, Christian F. Martin...
George Washington Cale Ferris -- The great wheel built for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago was originally called the Chicago Wheel. Then the name Ferris Wheel paid tribute to its designer. And the name stuck.
Amelia Bloomer -- Amelia Jenks Bloomer never wore the loose, pants-like garments that bear her name but she promoted them as symbols of female independence. Ever since, they have been known as bloomers.
The Gun Guys -- Samuel Colt, Oliver Winchester, Richard J. Gatling, Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson...
Tommy John -- A pretty good pitcher for a dozen years, John became a name when experimental surgery replaced a ligament in his elbow with a tendon from his other arm. Told he would never pitch again, John pitched for thirteen more years, winning another 164 games. Ever since, pitchers have had "Tommy John surgery."
Virginia Apgar -- Parents may know that their newborns were given an Apgar score -- a rating of skin color, use, reflex, activity, and breathing. Dr. Virginia Apgar developed the score in 1952.
Finally, meet Mr. Frisbee -- How was an ordinary baker from Bridgeport, Connecticut to know his name would become immortal? It started in the 1870s when Yale students began flinging pie pans used by the Frisbie Pie Company. Fast forward 80 years to the mid-1950s when the upstart Wham-O company decided its "Pluto Platter" needed a catchier name. Someone told them about the first frisbies back at Yale and...