Daniel Best (born March 20, 1838 in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, died Aug. 22, 1923 in Oakland, CA) was an American adventurer, inventor, and entrepreneur known for pioneering agriculture machinery and heavy machinery.
In 1839, Daniel Best’s father, John, moved the family to Missouri. There he built a saw mill and proceeded to cut lumber for the local pioneers to use in building their homes. The first nine years of Daniel's life were spent here and is probably where he received his interest in logging and machines.
In 1847, the family moved again to Lee County, Iowa, here they took up farming and raised stock. In 1859 Daniel, desiring adventure, and wanting to follow his brother, joined a wagon train heading west to Fort Walla Walla, Washington, employed as an ox tender and a sharpshooter.
As was the case for many other Americans of his day, the West changed Daniel Best’s life — but not how he expected. Along the way, he went from fighting Indians to befriending Indians. Once the wagon train reached its destination, Daniel went his own way to try his hand at gold mining followed by working in sawmills and eventually building his own sawmill.
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means, "God is my judge", and derives from two early biblical figures, primary among them Daniel from the Book of Daniel. It is a common given name for males, and is also used as a surname. It is also the basis for various derived given names and surnames.
The name evolved into over 100 different spellings in countries around the world. Nicknames (Dan, Danny) are common in both English and Hebrew, although in some instances "Dan" may be a complete given name rather than a nickname. The name "Daniil" (Даниил) is common in Russia. Feminine versions (Danielle, Daniela, Daniella, Dani, Danitza) are prevalent as well. The Dutch names "Daan" and "Daniël" are also variations of Daniel. A related surname developed as a patronymic, Daniels. Other surnames derived from "Daniel" include McDaniel and Danielson.
In the United States, the U.S. Social Security Administration reports that Daniel has peaked as the fifth most popular name for newborns in 1985, 1990, 2007, and 2008. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that in the 2000 census, "Daniels" was the 182nd most common surname in the U.S., while "McDaniel" was ranked at 323, and "Daniel" (without a final "s") was ranked at 380.
"Daniel" is a song by English recording artist Bat for Lashes, from her second studio album, Two Suns. It is her best selling single to date, selling over 46,000 copies worldwide. The song was announced as the lead single from Two Suns in January 2009, then released as a digital download single on 1 March 2009, and as a 7" vinyl single on 6 April 2009. The track was written by Natasha Khan and produced by David Kosten, as with all tracks on the album. Ira Wolf Tuton from Yeasayer provided the bass lines for the song and Khan did the rest of the instrumentation herself. Khan said in an interview with The Sun newspaper that "Daniel" is based on a fictional character that she fell in love with as a teenager. The single's cover features Khan with an image of the character Daniel LaRusso, from the film The Karate Kid, painted on her back. A character much like LaRusso also features at the end of the music video which goes with the song. The B-side of the 7" is a cover version of a 1980 single by The Cure.
Daniel is an English department store chain and Royal Warrant holder, with its flagship store situated in central Windsor. It was established in 1901 by Walter James Daniel, and is privately owned.