Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Origins of Harriet

11 people wrote in querying the origins of "Harriet." Astoundingly, two people actually figured it out. Color me impressed. Also, I'm pleasantly pleased to realize that many folks cared.

In honor of this, for the first (and perhaps only time), I will explain the origins of Harriet.

In 1852 a book by Harriet Beecher Stowe called Uncle Tom's Cabin was published. It dealt with slavery, and was quite controversial. In 1862 Harriet met President Abraham Lincoln, who reportedly greeted her with, "So you're the lady who brought us this big war."

Anyway, Harriet was the original "Anonymous," and since her posting sparked a firestorm (including launching her logic-deprived permanently-on-the-rag but-still-hot counterpart, Anonymous 2), I thought it only fitting that her alias be "Harriet."

And there you go.

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