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| Friday 30 May 2008: French rubbish bins |
| The French word for rubbish bin, poubelle, is an eponym: it was named after Eugène Poubelle who was the prefect of the department encompassing Paris in the late 19th century. In 1884 Poubelle ordered the owners of apartment buildings to erect receptacles of 40-120 litres for the collection of rubbish. It didn't take long for Parisians to refer to the rubbish bins by the prefect's name. |