The father of the process was Sir Henry Bessemer, an English inventor. His method was widely used for nearly 100 years until it was replaced by more efficient and cheaper ones. Bessemer's method relied on the use of "pig iron" - an intermediate product made by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace.
Pig iron was known in ancient times and was produced in China from at least the 3rd century BC. It did not appear in Europe until the Middle Ages. It derives it's name from the molds that were laid in parallel sand beds to feed them from a common runner. Such molds looked like (and were named after) little pigs sucking milk from the "sow" runner.