Blå, Blå: Have you ever heard of Harald "Blåtand" Gormsson? No? Don't be so sure. You may not know that old Harald once ruled modern-day Denmark and Norway back in the AD 900s, but you might recognize his nickname. "Blåtand" is Danish for "Bluetooth." Gormsson earned his nickname with his dead tooth, which was a very dark blue and grayish color. This apparently stood out even by Viking beauty standards, and so Gormsson became "Blåtand" to his pals.
Can you hear me now? So how did Blåtand end up lending his name to wireless communications technology? Back in the mid-90s, the Intel Corporation was working on short-range radio technology. So were two other companies: Sweden's Ericsson and Finland's Nokia. The three decided to team up to push the technology forward and establish a single wireless communications standard. Meeting in 1996, representatives from the three companies decided on a code name for their project. Kardash was Intel's representative, and he arrived with a diplomatic suggestion: "Bluetooth."
Coming together: Kardash and Intel picked "Bluetooth" for a reason. "King Harald Bluetooth," Kardash wrote in a contemporary blog post, "was famous for uniting Scandanavia." Working with two Scandinavian companies did the same thing for short-range wireless communication. And though it was supposed to just be a temporary code name, "Bluetooth" is still with us today. Oh, and that weird "B" that is used as Bluetooth's logo? That's our buddy Blåtand's initials written in ancient Danish runes.
info from QuizDaily.com,
info from QuizDaily.com,
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