AOL Money & Finance has a feature on the origin of some famous brands named after people. Here are some of the ones that I found particularly interesting:
- Arby's stands for R.B., the initials of the Raffel Brothers. Many people think it stands for roast beef.
- Taco Bell was founded by Glen Bell. I thought they just liked the bell logo. Who knew?
- Baskin-Robbins was a combination of two ice cream stores, one started by Irvine Robbins and the other by Burton Baskin. This one shouldn't have surprised me, but it did.
- Wendy's was named after Dave Thomas' (the founder) daughter's nick name. He had 5 kids. You have to wonder what the other ones thought of his choice.
Check out the rest of the 39 brands for more interesting facts.
When I was young and my family lived in Los Angeles, we had a tradition that we'd go to Wendy's for dinner any time the power went out. In our little Eagle Rock bungalow, the power went out nearly every time it rained, which meant we got over to Wendy's at least once every couple of months. My parents liked Wendy's because they had baked potatoes and a salad bar, and as far as fast food went, it seemed better than many of the other alternatives. 
A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake
Iced Tea 101
Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!
