When people hear the word Daytona, many immediately think of fast cars, NASCAR, and the famous Daytona 500. But the city’s name actually comes from a man who arrived in Florida long before racing became part of its identity. The story of how Daytona got its name begins in the 1870s with Matthias Day Jr.,…
Category: Places & Origins
Why Do So Many Indian Places End With “Pur,” “Abad” and “Ganj”?
Have you ever noticed something unusual about Indian place names? Travel across India and you will repeatedly encounter names ending in Pur, Abad, Ganj, Nagar, Pura and other familiar words. Jaipur. Udaipur. Jodhpur. Ahmedabad. Hyderabad. Moradabad. Daryaganj. Hazratganj. At first, these names can seem unrelated. But many of these endings carry clues about the languages,…
How Did Corpus Christi Get Its Name? The Story Behind the Texas City
If you have ever wondered how Corpus Christi got its name, the answer goes back more than 500 years. The Texas coastal city takes its name from Corpus Christi Bay, which was named by Spanish explorer Alonso Álvarez de Pineda in 1519. The name comes from the Latin words Corpus Christi, meaning “Body of Christ,”…
How Did Vikhroli Get Its Name? The History Behind the Mumbai Suburb
If you travel on Mumbai’s Central Railway line, chances are you’ve passed through Vikhroli. Today, it is surrounded by apartment towers, offices, factories, busy roads and one of Mumbai’s important railway connections. But Vikhroli was not always an urban suburb. Long before it became associated with Godrej, railway commuters and Mumbai’s growing eastern suburbs, the…