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I first realized I was going to like the Australian outback when I
read that the Simpson Desert, an area bigger than some European
countries, was named in 1932 for a manufacturer of washing machines.
(Specifically, Alfred Simpson, who funded an aerial survey.)  It wasn't
so much the pleasingly unheroic nature of the name as the knowledge
that an expanse of Australia more than 100,000 miles square didn't
even have a name until less than 70 years ago.  I have near relatives
who have had names longer than that.

Bill Bryson, "The (Seriously, Truly, Very) Fatal
		   Shore", <cite>Outside</cite>, June 2000
		   http://outside.away.com/magazine/200006/200006fatalshore1.html

Tags: australianoutback simpsondesert aerialsurvey washingmachines expanse europeancountries relatives australia