The General Theory Of Sideburns!

Genius! i found it. This has been bugging me for years, and i've never been able to verify it.

You see, when i first changed my surname to Sideb0ard, i have a memory of there having been a famous american general in the Civil War called Sideboard, and that i wasn't the first. Now, i was actually wrong in my recollection, which is why i have never been able to find out anything with a google search. Now somehow i got onto a google search for it again tonite, and my google search was "general sideburn sideboard" this time, and up popped the perfect explanation from over at http://www.answers.com/topic/sideburns

So he wasnt actually called Sideboard which would have been great. His name was Ambrose Burnside (pictured here), and he was the first person to cultivate this particular look as opposed to a full beard. It goes into more detail over the answers.com link, but the gist is that this look become known as Burnsides, which was all good and well while he was alive and people knew who you were referring to. However, after he had died the name was still in use, but people hearing it, thought wait, that doesnt make sense, shouldnt it be side burns, and so thats what they came to be called.

So yeah, not a Sideboard at all, guess i must be the first, but at least i got to the bottom of the story thats been in head for years now!