From names to fame

Nachos were named after their inventor, and so were these 9 other items

Image: tarheelgarden

No, Jacuzzis weren’t invented in a northern Italian town named Iacuzzi. Some everyday words like "Pilates" or "leotard" might sound like far-off places in European countries, but these labels don’t have geographical origins. Some creations and concepts were taken up so quickly, that society ignored the monickers their inventors had assigned to them, and named them after the person instead. So, who were Nacho, Theremin, and Mausolus? Let’s dive into these 10 stories to find out.

Image: Ahmet Kurt

Have you noticed that the word "Pilates" is often capitalized? It should be, because it’s a proper noun: the famous exercise was developed by the German physical trainer Joseph Pilates.

The son of a gymnast and a naturopath, Pilates spent four years at the Knockaloe internment camp on the Isle of Man during World War I. There, he developed a series of exercises to train the mind as well as the body, which he practiced and taught to his fellow internees.

The workout –which, its creator made clear, is not a therapy– focuses on breathwork and training flexibility and strength, not unlike modern yoga. In his time, Joseph Pilates named it Contrology, because he referred to it as "the art of controlled movement."

Image: Jonathan Borba

The Jacuzzis were an immigrant Italian family of inventors before the name became the trademarked label for hot tubs. The company was founded in America in 1915 and named after the surname of the seven brothers who ran it. Back in northern Italy, their official name was Iacuzzi, but it was misspelled in immigration.

Originally, Jacuzzi developed aviation products, mainly cabins for transporting mail in planes. They decided to abandon the industry, however, after one of the brothers was tragically killed in a plane crash. They diversified into water pumps, which became the most famous of their inventions: a hot tub for hydrotherapy. Candido Jacuzzi developed it as a therapeutic aid to treat his son’s rheumatic arthritis and patented it in 1952.

Image: Coffeefy Workafe

Have you ever met someone called "Nacho"? It’s the short nickname for "Ignacio," a very popular name in Spanish-speaking countries. That’s what’s at the core of the story behind the famous snack.

In 1943, the Mexican maître d’ Ignacio Anaya worked at a restaurant on the border between Piedras Negras, Mexico, and Eagle Pass, Texas. Legend has it that, one day, unable to find the cook, he improvised a dish with fried corn tortilla pieces, shredded cheese, and jalapeño pepper, which he served to American diners.

The dish was a success and, when asked what it was called, Anaya joked that they could call it "Nacho’s Special" after himself. In a few years, he had opened a restaurant and the popularity of the simple dish had spread throughout Texas and the southern US.

Image: Pawel Czerwinski

You may not know what a Theremin looks like, but you certainly have heard of it. This electronic musical instrument has a synthesized whistling sound that we now all associate with eerie scenes in science fiction and horror movies.

Léon Theremin was a Russian physicist who stumbled upon this invention while trying to craft a proximity sensor for the Soviet government in 1920. He eventually discovered that the movement of his hands could manipulate sound waves, and so the strange instrument was born. Another name given to it was "etherphone."

Famous musicians, from Dmitri Shostakovich to Frank Zappa and even the Rolling Stones, have used this instrument, which lends itself to an interesting stage performance and other-worldly sound.

Image: Roney John

Yes, mausolea are an ancient concept. But that doesn’t mean we have forgotten the man who commissioned the first one.

Mausolus was a Persian governor of the region of Caria around 350 B.C. While he still lived, he began the construction of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, a monumental above-ground chamber where he and his wife Artemisia would be buried. Greek architects and sculptors of the time were summoned to work on the project. The resulting structure was so impressive that the term "mausoleum" came to name similar fastous burial monuments.

Nothing but ruins remain of Mausolus’ original resting place, but the type of tomb stuck with humanity. One of the most famous and emblematic mausoleums in the world is the Taj Mahal in Agra, India.

Image: Andrea Piacquadio

The one-piece thighs were invented by the French acrobat Jules Léotard in the 19th century. He notably used to wear a close-fitting outfit from his upper legs to his shoulders while performing daring trapeze acts. This suit he had designed, stretchy and snug, allowed for flexibility and movement. Jules called them maillots as was custom back then in France, but the look had become so iconic that, following his death in 1870, people started referring to them as "leotards."

Many sporting activities use a variation of leotards, like gymnastics, ballet, yoga, or figure skating. In fact, the one-piece swimsuits we know today, which were introduced in the 1920s, derive from this piece of clothing.

Image: charlemagne

The gruesome device that became associated with the French Revolution was not designed, as you might think, by Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin. In fact, Guillotin was a French physician who was opposed to the death penalty and so, in 1789, proposed introducing a more humane way of execution than the ones carried out in the late 18th century.

There are records of the device going as far back as 1210, but for some reason, Guillotin’s name remained unfortunately linked to it. The descendants of Dr. Joseph-Ignace petitioned to have the name of the artifact officially changed, but this proved difficult and the label persists.

Image: cottonbro studio

Adolphe Sax was a Belgian musician and instrument maker trying to come up with a family of instruments that would bridge the gap between the woodwind and brass sections. He first started fiddling with a bass clarinet, experimenting with its acoustics and keys, and eventually, in the 1840s, introduced a new instrument which would be known as "saxophone."

Its first incorporation was in French and British military bands, and the rich, powerful tone of the instrument caught people’s attention. Slowly, the instrument was introduced in conservatories and incorporated experimentally in orchestral compositions, eventually reaching the United States, where its popularity never waned.

Image: Nejc Soklič

An ax on one side, an adze on the other. Both tools had been used by humans for millennia, but no one had combined them in one until 1911.

Edward "Ed" Pulaski was a U.S. Forest Service ranger in the early 20th century. In 1910, leading a crew of firefighters, he was trapped in the Great Fire of Idaho which he barely escaped by leading the men to an abandoned mine. After this heroic but harrowing experience, Pulaski set himself to develop a device that would help confront wildfires.

Today we know that Pulaskis can cut wood and roots and dig soil, which means we can easily carve a firebreak with one. Despite this life-saving invention, Pulaski never profited from it and lived modestly. The mine where he saved the firefighting crew is now remembered as a historic site, the Pulaski Tunnel Trail.

Image: Andreas Weilguny

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin was responsible for designing this type of rigid airship. The engineer had spent years toward the end of the 19th century laying out and perfecting the model, which was launched in the year 1900.

The airships were seen as futuristic and luxurious, though they quickly became used for ​​civilian travel and military operations. Owing to the success of this design, many rigid airships came to be known as "zeppelins" by extension.

Discovering the origins

Good old days: The hidden stories behind 10 phrases we still use today

"Call it a day," "Rome wasn’t built in a day," or "save it for a rainy day" are just some of the phrases you've used your whole life. But where did they actually come from? And what did they mean at the beginning? These everyday sayings may sound simple or ordinary, but each one carries a surprisingly rich history. For centuries, people have used the idea of a "day" to talk about work, time, patience, and life itself, long before any of us ever said them at the office or at the family dinner. Here, we explore the true origins and meanings behind 10 of the most familiar "day" idioms you still hear and say today.

You woke up on a Saturday, got things done around the house, worked out, went grocery shopping, cooked a nice meal, and finally sat down to watch your show. That’s when you can finally "call it a day." Today, it’s a simple way to say you’re done, but the phrase was a bit different in the 19th century.

In 1838, American author Joseph C. Neal wrote his Charcoal Sketches: Or, Scenes in a Metropolis, where a character says, "I’ve a great mind to knock off and call it half a day." Back then, when work shifts could last 12 to 16 hours, the line was taken quite literally. Over time, the "half" disappeared, and the phrase expanded beyond factories and long workdays. By the early 1900s, and appearing in newspapers by around 1920 in both the US and UK, it had become the everyday expression we use today.

Do you ever feel like the past was better? You’re not alone; people have always tended to idealize earlier times.

A clear example is the phrase "the good old days," which actually traces back to the Bible, in Ecclesiastes 7:10: "Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’" Much later, in 1727, Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe (1719), used a form much closer to what we say today in The Complete English Tradesman, contrasting the steady work habits of earlier generations with the faster-paced life of his time.

Whenever you feel impatient and want to get everything done in a single afternoon, there’s always someone ready to remind you: "Rome wasn’t built in a day." It’s useful advice today, but it actually goes back to medieval times.

Its earliest known written record dates to 1190, in the French collection of poems Li Proverbe au Vilain (The Proverbs of the Common Man) by an anonymous cleric, where it appears as Rome ne fu[t] pas faite toute en un jour ("Rome was not made all in one day"). Back then, many of Ancient Rome’s walls, aqueducts, and monuments were still standing, so the city’s greatness was something people could still see and admire. No wonder the phrase stuck; it was a strong reminder that good, lasting things take time.

Your parents probably said it to you when talking about money: "Save it for a rainy day." Today, we use it as simple advice for saving and being financially responsible, no matter the weather. But back then, it had a much more literal meaning.

In mid-16th-century Britain, where farming was the main source of work and food, weather could make or break daily life. A little rain helped crops grow, but too much could stop work entirely and ruin harvests. It’s in this context that the phrase emerged. One of its earliest recorded uses appears around 1561 in The Bugbears (a translation of the Italian work La Spirita): "Would he have me keep nothing for a rainy day?"

Many people today would say they’ve worked "day in and day out" to support their families. It’s such a familiar phrase that we rarely stop to think that someone said it for the first time once.

The expression developed from 16th–17th century British English, where writers often used repeated patterns like "night and day" or "again and again" to emphasize constant, daily actions. "Day in and day out" grew out of this same style, meaning something happening every single day without a break. It was later recorded and described as a colloquial expression in the early 19th century, in William Carr’s linguistic study The Dialect of Craven (1824, 1828).

Maybe your favorite team went through a long losing streak, but after weeks or seasons of frustration, the win finally arrived. That’s when people say, "Every dog has its day." Everyone, no matter their situation, eventually gets a moment of success.

The phrase is often linked to Renaissance scholar Desiderius Erasmus, who included collections of ancient proverbs in his Adagia (1500). One story traces the idea back to 406 BCE, when the playwright Euripides, visiting Macedonia, was attacked by dogs and unable to defend himself. In that early context, the phrase carried a darker tone, closer to inevitable downfall or vulnerability than success. By the early 1600s, William Shakespeare helped popularize it in Hamlet, already close to today’s sense: "The cat will mew, and dog will have his day," meaning even the overlooked eventually get their turn.

When something is so obvious that it can’t be denied or twisted, we say it’s "clear as day." But do you know where this idiom comes from?

Although there’s no exact date or single author to trace it back to, the phrase likely began as a literal comparison. According to historical sources, this expression was already in use in spoken English by the 14th century, when visibility depended heavily on natural light; a clear day meant everything could be seen plainly and without doubt. By the 16th and 17th centuries, it appears in writing in similar forms such as "as clear as the sun" or "as plain as daylight."

If your car starts making strange noises, breaking down more often, or leaving you stranded, you might say "its days are numbered."

Today, we use that phrase to mean something is nearing its end, but its roots go back much further. It appears in the Bible, most notably in Daniel 5:26: "God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it." While the idea is ancient, the expression didn’t take on its modern, everyday use until the 17th century. Over time, many religious phrases gradually became part of daily speech, often losing their original context. According to Merriam-Webster, "days are numbered" became widely used in its current sense by the late 1800s.

When a coworker finally gets the credit deserved after years of hard work, you might say he or she finally had a "day in the sun."

Today, the phrase means a moment of glory or recognition, and it traces back to the Latin dies solis ("day of the sun"), which referred to Sunday, the day on which the sun god was revered. In Old English, this became Sunnandæg, associated with periods or moments of light and warmth. Over time, that sense of brightness and visibility took on a more figurative meaning, coming to represent a person’s moment in the spotlight, a brief time of success.

Most of us have had one: a graduation, a wedding, the first day of a dream job. Moments like these are what we call a "red-letter day." But why?

The expression goes back to the 1400s, when churches marked important holy days in red ink on their calendars. What began by hand later appeared in early printed calendars, and was firmly established with the Book of Common Prayer in 1549, where special dates were printed in red. Over time, the idea moved beyond religion. A "red-letter day" came to mean any date worth remembering; bright, important moments that stand out.