WARD'S BOOK OF EPONYMS Who gave their names to what If you have ever wondered who gave their names to things and places, you will find the answer here. You can read about John Sandwich, George Dallas, Gustave Eiffel, James of York (New York), Clarence Birds-Eye, Charles Baltimore and many many others.

This is Ward's Book of Eponyms where you will find a large list of people who had things named after them. This page is devoted to things named after people whose name begins with the letter: L

Lea & Perrins The Worcester sauce came as the name suggests from Worcester as did John Wheeley Lea (1791-1874) and William Perrins (1793-1867) who ran a drug and chemists shop in the city. (The building still exists: Hargreaves Sports, 68 Broad Street, Worcester WR1 3LY.) One of their clients, Lord Sandys, asked them to prepare a recipe, which he had obtained in India. They obliged their patron and also made a few gallons for themselves in stone jars. When they tested the product, they found it odious and put it to one side. However coming back to it after a few months they found that maturity had produced an excellent condiment, which they marketed to the public. Lemon Hart rum There really was a man called Lemon Hart (1768–1845). His father Lazarus Altstader, a wine and spirits merchant, came from Weinheim, Germany to Penzance, the nearest port in Europe to the rum producing West Indies. He soon changed his name to Hart for ease of pronunciation and when his son, Leehman, took over the business, also to allow people to pronounce his name, he called himself Lemon. leotards A leotard is an elasticised garment worn by ballet dancers and such, covering the entire torso. Jules Léotard (1842–1870) of Toulouse, France, was the star attraction in the Cirque Napoleon. He invented the flying trapeze and drew the attention of all the ladies in the city. A song was written about him entitled The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze. Léotard used to say that he was adored by the ladies not on account of his daring exploits but for the tight bodysuit that revealed his muscles. The garment became known as the leotard. Jules Léotard wearing a leotard Listerine was created by Dr Joseph Lawrence and Jordan Lambert of Saint-Louis. It was originally a surgical antiseptic and was only available on prescription. The inventors named it in honour of Dr Joseph Lister (1827-1912), Professor of Surgery at Glasgow University. Lister introduced new principles of cleanliness which transformed surgical practice, including hand-washing, sterilising instruments and spraying carbolic in the theatre while operating. Lister became known as the ‘father of antiseptic surgery’. He collaborated with Charles Goodyear to invent surgical gloves. In 1897, he was created Baron Lister of Lyme Regis. He died in 1912 and is buried in Hamstead Cemetery, London. Dr Joseph Lister Old listerine bottle Levi's Levi Strauss (1829–1902) was a German immigrant to New York. In the Californian Gold Rush, Levi went west with a load of canvas that he intended sell to prospectors for tents. In San Francisco, he found that there was no demand for tents only for clothing, so he cut up the tent material for trousers. When the canvas ran out he switched to blue denim. The close-fitting garments were popular with miners as they were sewn with copper rivets, which enabled the miners to stuff their pockets with ore samples. The name ‘jeans’ derives from the Italian city of Genoa, known in French as Gênes. Denim comes from the phrase ‘serge de Nîmes’, after the French city of Nimes. lynch The word ‘lynch’ comes from Charles Lynch (1736 -- 1796) who was a planter and American Revolutionary. He presided over an irregular court in Virginia to deal with supporters of the British during the American Revolutionary War. Lynch and his men used to round up suspects who were given a summary trial and then hanged. At the end of the war, Lynch's actions were proclaimed legal by the Virginia General Assembly.

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