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:
O
O.K. There are various explanations as to how this expression comes about. Some say that it comes from the initials of a railroad freight clerk, Obadiah Kelly, who wrote OK on shipping documents to signify readiness for transportation. Another option is from French banana plantations, where fruit that was good enough for the boat was labelled ‘au quai’, to the quay, ready for loading. The most popular explanation comes from the O.K. Democratic Club, a group that supported Martin Van Buren in the presidential campaign of 1840. Van Buren had got the nickname ‘Old Kinderhook’ which referred to his home-town in New York state. Voters were urged to ‘vote right, vote O.K.’
ohm Georg Simon Ohm (1787–1854) was a German mathematician. He was awarded a degree in when he was twenty-two and then took up a teaching position. In his spare time, he experimented with the recently invented electrochemical cell, invented by Alessandro Volta. Ohm discovered that there exists a direct relationship between an electrical current and its voltage and resistance. This principle is now known as Ohm’s Law. At the International Electrical Congress of 1893, it was decided to name a unit of electrical resistance an ‘ohm’.
Oscar The Oscar is an accolade by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The statuette is made of gold-plated britannium on a black metal base, 13.5 in tall, weighing 8.5 lb and depicts a knight in Art Deco style holding a crusader's sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes. It was designed by Cedric Gibbons and first presented in 1927. In 1931, an Academy secretary, seeing one for the first time, commented “He reminds me of my Uncle Oscar.” The press took hold of this remark and soon the award became known as an Oscar. Uncle Oscar was an unremarkable but wealthy Texan, Oscar Pierce.Other letters