Friday, April 30, 2010

John Montagu and ham on rye

John Montagu
November 3rd, 1718 to April 30th, 1792


John Montagu who?...the 4th Earl of Sandwich...now do you get the connection? John Montagu was a "British politician, inventor and explorer, for whom the sandwich is named, which is said he invented in 1762. A story was offered in Grosley's Tour to London that Sandwich often spent excessive time gambling and he didn't want to get up from the gambling table, so he told his servants to bring him meat between two slices of bread. Although this story is often quoted, it seems without support. Rodger, Sandwich's biographer, describes the original form using salt beef, as more likely to have been invented to eat while working at his desk, where he spent long hours. Captain Cook named the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) for him. As first lord of the admiralty (1771-82) during the American Revolution, he was held responsible for the navy's disastrous unpreparedness for war."

John Montagu [Wikipedia]

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