Elijah Craig, American minister, inventor, and educator, invented Bourbon whiskey (born 1738)

Elijah Craig was an American Baptist preacher, who became an educator and capitalist entrepreneur in the area of Virginia that later became the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He has sometimes, although rather dubiously, been credited with the invention of bourbon whiskey.

Bourbon whiskey is a barrel-aged American whiskey made primarily from corn (maize). The name derives from the French House of Bourbon, although the precise source of inspiration is uncertain; contenders include Bourbon County, Kentucky, and Bourbon Street in New Orleans, both of which are named after the House of Bourbon. The name bourbon might not have been used until the 1850s, and the association with Bourbon County was not evident until the 1870s.