20. Starbucks Is Named After The Chief Mate Of The Pequod In "Moby-Dick"
When the company was first opened on March 30, 1971, the three partners who had come up with the idea - history teacher Zev Siegl, English teacher Jerry Baldwin and writer Gordon Bowker - could not agree on what to name it. All fans of Herman Melville's 1851 novel "Moby-Dick", they originally plumped for the idea of calling the company "Pequod" - after the whaling ship in the book. However, they decided to name it after the chief mate of Pequod, "Starbuck", instead. Hence why Starbucks is named after a famous book about an enormous whale.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
