John Montague, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich The sandwich seems like such an obvious invention that it’s surprising that someone didn’t think of it before the late 18th century.  That’s when the concept first appeared.  It’s so recent that the word in most foreign languages is an obvious loanword from English.  The loan is obvious in the French le sandwich and in the German das Sandwich , and the Russian сэндвич and the Turkish sandviç show that the word has spread even farther afield.  It’s the same word in Tagalog, Javanese and Swahili!  But where, exactly, does this word come from? The origin traces to John Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich.  Exactly how the name got attached to one of the world’s most widely-circulated convenience foods is disputed.  One popular story holds that Montagu was a hardcore gambler, and didn’t like to take time out from card playing for meals.  Instead, he would ask a servant to bring him some sal...