It's (mostly) a fact!

Many of the words you and I (ok, maybe just I) use daily are really the names of people!

For instance, a Maverick, before it came to be the name of a western TV show and a Ford car and then a Ford pickup, was what they called a stray cow back in Texas, where a lawyer named Samuel A. Maverick wound up owning a ranch with several hundred cattle. He was not into own cows and bulls, so he let them roam the countryside, doing whatever wherever - the Ted Cruzes of the 19th-century.

Take Sylvester Graham, by cracky!  Graham was a clergyman in the 19th century who developed a coarsely ground wheat flour, which he promised would improve your health and keep you going, if you catch my drift. He turned that flour into the graham crackers you get in a little packet when you wake up from surgery, along with a tiny can of ginger ale (which he did not invent.) He was a big advocate for cold showers (guess why!), hard mattresses, home-baked bread, and absolutely no alcohol.

By the way. I know it sounds dumb, but here is my annual reminder that bleu cheese on a ginger snap makes a really great snack. You can thank me later!

Finally today, the original Ferris Wheel was constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., in Chicago. And did you know, the first Roller Coaster was developed by Carl Coaster of Dubuque? Well, you shouldn't know that. I made it up!