Back before the web-thing and wiki-this and iThat, when you wanted to look something up, you went to the Domesday Book.
From the Domesday Book Online FAQ:
Why is it called the 'Domesday' Book?
It was written by an observer of the survey that "there was no single hide nor a yard of land, nor indeed one ox nor one cow nor one pig which was left out". The grand and comprehensive scale on which the Domesday survey took place (see How it was compiled), and the irreversible nature of the information collected led people to compare it to the Last Judgement, or 'Doomsday', described in the Bible, when the deeds of Christians written in the Book of Life were to be placed before God for judgement. This name was not adopted until the late 12th Century.
[via metafilter.com]
Posted by johndanseven at August 17, 2006 10:03 AM