Who is John Doe?

Posted by Eckard on June 05, 2001

Hi, all,
this guy seems to be everywhere. May anyone enlighten me as to how this name came into the meaning of "Man on the street", "certain somebody" or the likes?
I've tried The Archive but neither "John" nor "Doe" turned up any result.
Regards
Eckard

• John Doe & Richard Roe ESC 06/05/01
  • John Doe & Richard Roe Eckard 06/15/01