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:
X
X the unknown factor. The first mathematician to use X in his calculations was the French philosopher, René Descartes (1596–1650) who set the tradition. Some people say he used it because it was easy to write, just two strokes of the pen, but it probable comes from the Greek word for unknown ‘xenos’. ‘xenos’ also gives us the word ‘xenophobia’, fear of foreigners.
Xeres is a town in Andalusia in south-western Spain, famous for its vineyards. The grapes are used in the production of the local speciality, a fortified wine, known to the locals as ‘vino de Xeres’ which comes into the English language as ‘sherry’.
Other letters