Ever wonder why they’re called Graham crackers?

According to a really cool book called Terrors of the Table, Sylvester Graham was a Presbyterian clergyman born in Boston in 1795. Although not a doctor, he called himself an MD. He was a big believer in eating like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden—in other words, a pretty strict form of vegetarianism. This was not a popular idea at the time. But his movement gained traction. Besides advocating a diet based on fruits, nuts, and seeds, he recommended hard mattresses, cold baths, and chastity. His insistence that bread be baked in the home and made from wholemeal, unsieved flour gained him the nickname Dr. Sawdust. Graham was a popular lecturer up and down the east coast, promising his followers good health and a long life. His name lives on in the crackers we all know and love.

Sylvester Graham died at 57 after a life of ill health.