Answer: A Norse King

Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson was the king of Denmark and Norway during the late 10th century. In addition to passing down significant historical artifacts and constructions (such as the large and heavily inscripted “Jelling Stones” he had erected in honor of his parents), he also passed down a nickname that, thanks to a technological twist, we use today.

The origin of Gormsson’s nickname is open for debate: some scholars believe it was literal and that he had a blackened tooth, others believe it was mistranslated into English, and still others have argued that it was an allusion to his clothing, a royal blue.

Regardless how he came by the nickname, Gormsson did a skillful job uniting various factions across regions and language barriers. Years later when a consortium of companies led by Scandinavian company Ericsson sat down to create a wireless communication standard that united different devices together, they named it Bluetooth in a nod to the lore surrounding the storied Scandinavian King. Even the logo for the standard itself alludes to his name: the Bluetooth symbol was created by layering the Runic characters for H and B over each other.