People eating meats and/or vegetables on or in bread has been with us for as long as bread itself! Indeed, but then along came a card-playing nobleman…
The modern sandwich is named after Lord John Montague, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, but it’s probably true to say that the story might not be an accurate historical account. Lord Sandwich, a “dedicated” gambler, did not like to take time out from the game to have a meal. He would, therefore, ask casino waiters to bring him slices of meat between two slices of bread; a habit well known among his gambling friends. Because John Montagu was the Earl of Sandwich others began to order “the same as Sandwich!” – aka the ‘sandwich.’
An alternative story is provided by Sandwich’s biographer, N. A. M. Rodger, who suggests Sandwich’s commitments to the navy, to politics and the arts mean the first sandwich was more likely to have been consumed at his work desk [Source: Wikipedia]. You can believe what you like but whether he was dedicated to work or play, Sandwich was not a man to be prized away from whichever table to engage in the formalities of dining.