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:
R
Raleigh Bicycles The person who invented the Raleigh label was Frank Bowden (1847-1921) who was recommended to cycle in order to regain his health after a long illness. He bought his first machine in a works in Raleigh St., London and found that the bicycle improved his health considerably. He returned to Raleigh St and bought up the workshop, calling it The Raleigh Cycle Company. After the business expanded, he moved the operation to a factory in Nottingham.
Rhodes scholarships Cecil John Rhodes (1853–1902) was the son of a clergyman born at Bishop Stortford, Hertfordshire. He was weak and sickly as a child and in 1870, he was sent to South Africa, where it was hoped a warmer climate would help him recover. He arrived in time to take advantage of the discovery of diamonds and by 1888 he had established De Beers Consolidated Mines. By the age of 35, he dominated the world market in gold and diamonds, and was, some say, the richest man in the world. He had a vision of a British Africa, from ‘Cape to Cairo’. He meddled in politics, tried unsuccessfully to overthrow the Boer Republics and attempted to construct a railway running from North to South Africa. He dreamt of an extended British Empire to which the United States would be invited to return. By his will he set up scholarships granted annually to students from the British dominions and the United States. The part of Africa now known as Zambia and Zimbabwe, used to be called Rhodesia after Cecil Rhodes.
Richter scale This method of gauging earthquakes was invented by Charles Francis Richter (1900–1985) at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, where he was professor of seismology. His method was to measure the energy released and the ground motions caused and calibrate the data into a logarithmic scale. The Richter scale has been largely superseded by he ‘moment magnitude scale’ a sophisticated version of The Richter scale.
Ritz César Ritz (1850–1918) was born in Niederwald, Switzerland, to a poor peasant family. He took a job as a waiter and established a career as a hotel manager. He had a flair for elegant design and was able to attract wealthy clients. In the 1890’s he developed the Savoy in London and attracted The Prince of Wales and notable aristocracy to the dining rooms. In 1897, Ritz was implicated in the disappearance of a quantity of wine and spirits and was dismissed. He set up his own hotel, the elegant Ritz Hotel in Piccadilly, London, in 1906, and later the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York. ‘To dine at the Ritz’ was the unsurpassed luxury of the age.
Rowntree’s of York The business was started in 1725 by Mary Tuke who opened a grocer’s shop in Walmgate, York. Her nephew inherited the business and 1785, he was dealing in cocoa products. In 1860, Henry Isaac Rowntree (1837–1883) started work at William Tuke & Sons and in 1862 bought out the chocolate part of the business. In 1869, he sold out to his brother, Joseph, who expanded the business, adding Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles to the product range.Other letters