Have you ever talked to someone over the phone hands-free and wondered "where did the name Bluetooth come from?" The icon for it is blue, but where on earth does the "tooth" come from?

Believe it or not, Bluetooth was named after a viking king! Harald Blatand (which roughly translates to Bluetooth) was king of Denmark from 958 - 970. He was famous for bringing Denmark and Norway together to form one nation and for converting the Danes to Christianity.

Why was a wireless communication device named after him?

Because he united things!

In the 1990s, several corporations were developing wireless communication. There were all competing against one another and many believed that this was preventing the a widespread use of wireless.

Jim Kardach, an engineer from Intel, worked on wireless technology. He was dedicated to bringing companies together to develop an standard for short-range radio connectivity.

During this time, he had been reading a book about vikings, featuring good old King Harald. He then got the inspiration to use him as a symbol for bringing the competing companies together.

Eventually, a bunch of parties came together to form the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, which developed the standard we use today. "Bluetooth" was not meant to be the final name, but it was already used by the press, so it stuck.

Want to know what's even cooler?

The Bluetooth logo is actually the initials of Harald Blatand (H B) written in Scandinavian runes.

Crazy right?