German manufacturing company, named for founder Max Braun, mechanical engineer in Frankfurt am Main (1921).

type of rotary internal combustion engine, 1961, from name of German engineer Felix Wankel (1902-1988).

single-barreled water-cooled machine gun, 1885 (Maxim gun), named for inventor, U.S.-born British engineer Sir Hiram S. Maxim (1840-1916).

sound reproduction system, 1966, named for its inventor, U.S. engineer Ray M. Dolby (b.1933). The surname probably is a variant of Dalby, from the place in Leicestershire.

by 1856 in reference to the process for decarbonizing and desiliconizing pig iron by passing air through the molten metal, named for engineer and inventor Sir Harry Bessemer (1813-1898) who invented it.

"calcium light, torch that burns calcium oxide (lime) and gives off intense white light," 1854, named for Scottish engineer Capt. Thomas Drummond, R.E., (1797-1840), who invented it c. 1825.

German monoplane of World War I, 1913, from name of Anton "Anthony" H.G. Fokker (1890-1939), Dutch engineer and inventor who started his aircraft manufacturing business in Germany in 1912.

computer operating system, named for Linux kernel, written 1991 by software engineer Linus Torvalds (b. 1969) of Finland (who coined the word but did not choose it as the name).

cognomen of the mad, extravagant, and legendarily cruel third Roman emperor (12 C.E.-41 C.E.), born Gaius Caesar. The nickname is Latin, literally "little boot," given when he joined his father on military campaigns when still a toddler, in full, child-sized military gear; it is a diminutive of caliga "heavy military shoe," which is of unknown origin.

city in Spain, Roman Pompeiopolis, named for Pompey the Great, Roman military leader who founded it 68 B.C.E.