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wwh Offline
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Dear bridget96: as a joke, have you heard of the Pizarro?
Since nobody looked at the post about cars named after explorers I will name the ones I can think of. Cadillac (sort of an explorer, founded the settlement that because Detroit),DeSoto, Hudson. The "Pizzaro" is a joke, from name Pierce Arrow, which was notable for being first to have headlights mounted on fenders.

#21201 03/21/01 06:12 PM
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In case anyone is still looking:

Zeppelin, after it's inventor, Graf Zeppelin, a son of Konstanz

Malatov Cocktail, after the famous reformer

Speaking of which, another famous reformer was burned at the stake in Konstanz, but to the best of my knowledge they were not related.


#21202 03/21/01 06:49 PM
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Malatov Cocktail, after the famous reformer

Huh? If you are referring to the Molotov cocktail, the most common explanation of its origin is that it was named "in honour of" the Russian Foreign Minister of the same name, a gesture of defiance by the Finns who used the home-made petrol bombs with considerable effect in the Finno-Russian War, early in WWII. If I am mistaken on this, I look forward to correction.


#21203 03/21/01 08:28 PM
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wwh Offline
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It is interesting that the Zeppelins are making a comeback. I can remember seeing a couple of the originals that the US Navy took possession of, back in middle twenties. Then a couple of them were destroyed by powerful wind shears that actually broke them in the middle. And I still wonder if our government was justified in refusing to sell the helium that would have prevented the Hindenburg disaster. I doubt very much that the Hindenburg could have been valuable in WWII, by which time fighter planes with rockets could easily have destroyed it.

And just to be mischievous, I remember Molotov, but not with two "a's".


#21204 03/22/01 12:24 AM
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Huh? If you are referring to the Molotov cocktail...

Um, apart from my reforming the foreign minister's name, I'm not sure what you might be objecting to. As an organizer of the Bolsheviks, what was Molotov if not a reformer?


#21205 03/22/01 01:32 AM
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As an organizer of the Bolsheviks, what was Molotov if not a reformer?


You're absolutely right, I had not thought of him as a reformer, probably because I did not know that he was involved in the Revolution itself. That ignorance, combined with the "a"s, led me to jump to the contusion that you were referring to somebody else.


#21206 03/22/01 03:20 AM
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On the other hand, whereas, I suppose, "Zeppelin" is a true eponym, I'm not sure "Molotov *Cocktail*" is. Maybe someone else can say, for example, whether "Graham" is an eponym and "Graham Cracker" isn't.



#21207 03/22/01 09:56 AM
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Molotov Cocktail, after the famous reformer

I have finally figured out why the above gave me so much trouble. It was your mention of a segue to Jan Hus that did it. My question is this, is Molotov "famous" for being a reformer in the same way that Hus undoubtedly is, or is Molotov famous for being the agressor immortalised by a weapon conceived to oppose him? Given Hus' contribution to Reformation, I could imagine a lot of Protestant Finns aghast at a comparison between the two.


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matahari,
to carterize



#21209 03/23/01 06:32 PM
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Re: prevented the Hindenburg disaster.
In my first house, when renovating, i ripped up linoleum, to find the floor under it lined with old newspapers-- all about the hindernburg disaster--How strange it was to see the coffins, in the temporary morgue, all covered with swastica's -- Pre WWII -- a "neutral" image--

And did we have rockets (fighter planes/ or jets with mounted rockets in WWII?) the germans were working on that technology-- but did the US or England have them? --i though most of the rocket technology was a post WWII developement. (but that is before my time-- so i really don't know.)

Zeppelin's would have been doomed by the increase use and sophistication of Radar-- (which the English vastly improved-- and shared all the technology with us-- so we could manufacture) but the war started long before the US got involved-- and Zeppelin's could have done damage to large parts of europe-- even if England was developing technology to track them.


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