I think it was a sort of in joke on a popular news topic in the era. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Babylon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Babylo

I think it was a sort of in joke on a popular news topic in the era. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Babylon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Babylon The press, I distinctly recall, liked to call it. "The mother of all guns" However I am unable to find a citation in the 30 seconds I spent looking for it.