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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Some names stick around

From Table Tap Joe to Ziggy Stardust: Who are the best song characters?

Sometimes, a character is the perfect alter-ego to write a song about oneself without self-referencing so much. Other times, a character is just a character. Over the years, musicians have come up with lonely dreamers, fearless heroes, mysterious strangers, and even supernatural villains who have become just as famous as the songs themselves. Some were inspired by real people, others sprang entirely from imagination, but all of them left a lasting mark on music history. Which of these 12 do you remember?

Tom Waits has always had a soft spot for society's oddballs, and few are even stranger than Table Top Joe. Introduced on the 2002 album Alice, Joe is born with only a head and hands, yet grows into a brilliant piano player whose extraordinary talent earns him fame despite the odds stacked against him.

The song unfolds like a forgotten American folk tale, complete with references to Coney Island's legendary Dreamland amusement park and composer Igor Stravinsky. Although many listeners assume the story is based on an old carnival legend, Table Top Joe is entirely Tom Waits' own creation.

Few fictional musicians have ever become as famous as Ziggy Stardust. Introduced in 1972, Ziggy is an alien rock star sent to Earth shortly before humanity's end, only to be consumed by the very fame that makes him a savior to millions.

David Bowie blurred the line between fiction and reality by performing as Ziggy onstage for more than a year. When he unexpectedly announced Ziggy's retirement during a concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon in 1973, many fans believed the character, and perhaps Bowie himself, had truly reached the end of the story.

Tommy Walker isn't just the hero of a song, he's the central figure of one of rock music's first great operas. After witnessing a traumatic event as a child, Tommy becomes deaf, mute, and blind, yet somehow develops astonishing pinball skills that transform him into an unlikely celebrity.

Pete Townshend built an entire musical world around Tommy, exploring themes of trauma, faith, and redemption. First released in 1969, Tommy later became a hit film, a Broadway production, and one of the most influential concept albums ever recorded.

Johnny B. Goode is every aspiring musician's dream. Growing up in rural Louisiana with little more than a guitar and natural talent, he plays so brilliantly that listeners predict "his name will be in lights."

Chuck Berry based the character partly on himself and partly on pianist Johnnie Johnson. Originally described as a "colored boy," Johnny became a "country boy" in the final lyrics, making the song more likely to receive airplay during the segregation era. Nearly two decades later, Johnny's anthem would even travel into space aboard NASA's Voyager Golden Record.

Few fictional characters have captured loneliness as powerfully as Eleanor Rigby. She quietly moves through life unnoticed, while Father McKenzie delivers sermons that no one hears, creating one of popular music's saddest portraits of isolation.

Paul McCartney later explained that Eleanor's name came from actress Eleanor Bron and the Liverpool shop Rigby & Evens. The discovery of an actual Eleanor Rigby gravestone in Liverpool only deepened the song's mystique, though McCartney maintained the coincidence was unintentional.

Billie Jean may be one of pop music's most famous women, yet Michael Jackson insisted she wasn't a real person. Instead, she represented several women who falsely claimed that he had fathered their children during the height of the Jackson 5's fame.

Released in 1983 as part of Thriller, the song became a global phenomenon. It also provided the stage for Jackson's legendary moonwalk during Motown 25.

Unlike many legendary song characters, Stagger Lee actually existed. His real name was Lee Shelton, a St. Louis criminal who murdered Billy Lyons during an argument over a hat on Christmas Eve in 1895.

The shocking crime quickly entered American folklore through countless folk songs before Lloyd Price transformed it into a chart-topping hit in 1958. More than a century later, Stagger Lee remains one of the most enduring antiheroes in American music.

Tom Dooley was inspired by Thomas Dula, a Confederate veteran executed in North Carolina in 1868 after being convicted of murdering Laura Foster. His surname was locally pronounced "Dooley," giving the ballad its familiar title.

The Kingston Trio revived the old Appalachian folk song in 1958, turning it into an international hit and helping launch America's folk music revival.

When the narrator of "Lola" meets an intriguing stranger in a Soho nightclub, expectations quickly give way to surprise. Ray Davies crafted one of rock's earliest mainstream stories exploring gender ambiguity, decades before the topic entered popular conversation.

The recording rarely reached British radio. Because BBC rules prohibited commercial product names, Davies had to interrupt a U.S. tour and fly back to London simply to replace the lyric "Coca-Cola" with the now-famous "cherry cola."

Unlike most famous song characters, the Piano Man is really Billy Joel himself. Before becoming a superstar, Joel spent six months in 1972 and 1973 performing under the pseudonym Bill Martin at the Executive Room, a piano bar in Los Angeles, after becoming trapped in a bad recording contract. The song transforms those experiences into a bittersweet portrait of ordinary people searching for escape at the end of another week.

Joel has said that virtually every character in the song was based on a real person, from bartender John to "Paul, the real estate novelist" and Davy, who really was in the Navy. Yet the Piano Man himself became the story's most enduring character: a quiet observer who offers music as a brief refuge for dreamers, lonely souls, and regulars alike. More than fifty years after its 1973 release, "Piano Man" remains Billy Joel's signature song, and its title has effectively become his lifelong nickname.

Standing nearly seven feet tall and missing an arm, Amos Moses roams the Louisiana swamps hunting alligators. Jerry Reed filled the song with colorful Southern expressions and exaggerated storytelling that make Amos feel like an authentic folk legend.

Although fictional, Amos embodies the larger-than-life heroes found throughout American tall tales. His adventures turned the song into one of Reed's biggest crossover hits and secured Amos a permanent place among country music's greatest characters.

Big Bad John hardly says a word, but he doesn't have to. The towering coal miner earns everyone's respect through quiet strength before sacrificing his own life to save fellow workers when a mine collapses.

Jimmy Dean's 1961 ballad became a smash hit, winning a Grammy and inspiring several sequel songs. More than sixty years later, Big Bad John still stands as one of country music's defining working-class heroes.