Part 13 (2/2)

Thomas c.r.a.pper (18361910) was a London plumber who held nine patents: for manhole covers, drains, pipe joints, and, most notably, the ballc.o.c.k.

His innovative Chelsea showroom was a big hit, though ladies were said to faint at the sight of the unmentionables on display. c.r.a.pper's, on the King's Road, started by his nephew George, only closed in 1966.

c.r.a.pper & Co. held four royal warrants. When the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) bought Sandringham in 1880, they did all the plumbing.

In Flushed with Pride Flushed with Pride (1969), the author Wallace Reyburn claimed c.r.a.pper invented the flush toilet, and was knighted and cited in the (1969), the author Wallace Reyburn claimed c.r.a.pper invented the flush toilet, and was knighted and cited in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. As any plumber will tell you, none of these things is true. As any plumber will tell you, none of these things is true.

Though c.r.a.pper's 'Silent Valveless Waste Water Preventer' was a flush toilet, the patent was not his: it was filed by a Mr Alfred Giblin in 1819.

The first flush toilet was discovered in China in 2000 in the palace of a king of the Han Dynasty (206 BCAD BCAD 220). It is a stone latrine with a seat, armrest and a system of pipes for flus.h.i.+ng the pan. Arguably, the first modern WC was invented in 1592 by Sir John Harington, a G.o.dson of Queen Elizabeth I. 220). It is a stone latrine with a seat, armrest and a system of pipes for flus.h.i.+ng the pan. Arguably, the first modern WC was invented in 1592 by Sir John Harington, a G.o.dson of Queen Elizabeth I.

As for c.r.a.pper's surname being the origin of the slang for a lavatory, this is just possible. The word doesn't appear in print until the 1930s. 'c.r.a.p' dates from 1440, but it meant 'chaff' and had fallen out of use by 1600. Victorians would not have understood the word 'c.r.a.pper', let alone found it funny.

The story goes that English settlers took the word with them to America, where it was vulgarised to its present meaning. When American GIs came to Britain in the First World War, they found the name c.r.a.pper engraved on all the lavatories hilarious, and the name stuck.

Wallace Reyburn went on to publish Bust-Up: The Uplifting Tale of Otto t.i.tzling Bust-Up: The Uplifting Tale of Otto t.i.tzling (1971), a ludicrous fiction about the supposed inventor of the bra. (1971), a ludicrous fiction about the supposed inventor of the bra.

STEPHEN The ball ... c.o.c.k. Erm ... sorry. I don't know why that's funny. Sorry that it's funny to say ball ... c.o.c.k. Yes! I learned at the University of Rowan Atkinson, me! The ball ... c.o.c.k. Erm ... sorry. I don't know why that's funny. Sorry that it's funny to say ball ... c.o.c.k. Yes! I learned at the University of Rowan Atkinson, me!

What was Mozart's middle name?

Wolfgang.

His full name was Johann Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. He usually called himself Wolfgang Amade (not Amadeus) or Wolfgang Gottlieb. 'Amadeus' is Latin for Gottlieb and means 'G.o.d's love'.

Other memorable middle names include Richard Tiffany Gere, Rupert Chawney Brooke, William Cuthbert Faulkner and Harry S. Truman, where the S stands for nothing, despite the full stop.

Apparently Truman's parents couldn't agree whether he should be named after Anderson s.h.i.+pp s.h.i.+pp Truman or Truman or Solomon Solomon Young, his grandfathers. Young, his grandfathers.

For punctuation fiends, we draw your attention to The Chicago Manual of Style The Chicago Manual of Style: 'all initials given with a name should for convenience and consistency be followed by a period even if they are not abbreviations of names.'

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How did Mark Twain get his name?

He stole it.

The usual explanation is that he took the name from the call of the leadsman on a Mississippi paddle-boat steamer. 'Mark Twain' was the second mark on the lead line used to calculate the river's depth. It indicated a depth of 2 fathoms (12 feet), which was 'safe water'.

This isn't wrong, it's just that someone else had got there first. The name was already being used by Captain Isaiah Sellers (180263), a river news correspondent.

The young Samuel Longhorn Clemens (18351910) cut his teeth writing parodies of Sellers under the pen-name Sergeant Fathom. According to Clemens, Sellers was 'not of a literary turn or capacity' but was 'a fine man, a high-minded man, and greatly respected both ash.o.r.e and on land'. The Sergeant Fathom burlesques mortified him. Clemens later wrote: 'He had never been held up to ridicule before; he was sensitive, and he never got over the hurt which I had wantonly and stupidly inflicted upon his dignity.'

This didn't stop him stealing the pen-name, as Twain (Mark II) explained in a letter to a reader: Dear Sir, 'Mark Twain' was the nom de plume of one Capt. Isaiah Sellers, who used to write river news over it for the New Orleans Picayune New Orleans Picayune. He died in 1863, and as he could no longer need that signature, I laid violent hands upon it without asking permission of the proprietor's remains. That is the history of the nom de plume I bear.

Yours truly, Samuel L. Clemens

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What was the surname of the Swiss Family Robinson?

We don't know, but it certainly wasn't Robinson.

Johann David Wyss (17431818), a Swiss clergyman and former military chaplain, wrote the original stories as an entertainment for his four sons on long hiking trips. One of the boys, Johann Emmanuel, ill.u.s.trated them and many years later, another one, Johann Rudolf (already famous for having written the words to the Swiss National anthem) edited them into a book. Der Schweizerische Robinson Der Schweizerische Robinson (literally 'The Swiss Robinson') was published in German in 1812. (literally 'The Swiss Robinson') was published in German in 1812.

The story follows the adventures of a Swiss family stranded in the East Indies after a s.h.i.+pwreck on the way to Australia, and is told from the point of view of the father (who is not named). Wyss intended the stories to offer his sons practical guidance on family values and self-reliance, inspired by the work of the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (171278) and Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe Robinson Crusoe (1719). (1719).

The enduring popularity of the basic idea has survived endless liberties taken with the original text. The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature comments: 'with all the expansions and contractions over the past two centuries (this includes a long history of abridgements, condensations, Christianisings and Disney products), Wyss's original narrative has long since been obscured, and the book is chiefly characterised by its improbable profusion of animals penguins, kangaroos, monkeys and even a whale conveniently gathered together on a tropical island.' comments: 'with all the expansions and contractions over the past two centuries (this includes a long history of abridgements, condensations, Christianisings and Disney products), Wyss's original narrative has long since been obscured, and the book is chiefly characterised by its improbable profusion of animals penguins, kangaroos, monkeys and even a whale conveniently gathered together on a tropical island.'

As for the confusion over the family's name, this wasn't a problem for William G.o.dwin (17561836), husband of Mary Wollstonecraft, father of Mary Sh.e.l.ley and influential social philosopher. He and his second wife produced the first English translation in 1814, calling it quite logically The Family Robinson Crusoe The Family Robinson Crusoe.

In 1818, for some reason, the t.i.tle was changed to The Swiss Family Robinson The Swiss Family Robinson (surely The Swiss Family Crusoe would have made more sense?) and this unlike the details of the plot, the names and the s.e.xes of the characters and the underlying moral lessons is about the only part of it all to have stood the test of time. (surely The Swiss Family Crusoe would have made more sense?) and this unlike the details of the plot, the names and the s.e.xes of the characters and the underlying moral lessons is about the only part of it all to have stood the test of time.

It won't surprise you to learn that roughly a third of the endless film and TV adaptations have hammered home the mistake by unambiguously (and without a shred of embarra.s.sment) calling the Swiss family 'Robinson'.

How did Nome in Alaska get its name?

a) By mistake b) To attract good luck: 'Nomes' are a type of Alaskan pixie c) After Sir Horace Nome (181472), Scottish explorer d) After an Inuit greeting: Nome nome Nome nome ('Here you belong') ('Here you belong') It was a spelling mistake.

In the 1850s, a British s.h.i.+p noted the existence of a prominent but unnamed point of land in Alaska. A s.h.i.+p's officer scribbled 'Name?' next to the point on a ma.n.u.script map. When the map was being copied at the Admiralty, a cartographer misread the scribble, and wrote in the new point's name as 'Cape Nome'.

In 1899 the burghers of Nome tried to change the name of their town to Anvil City, but the US Postal service objected on the grounds that it risked confusion with the nearby settlement of Anvik, so the name stuck.

As the city's community websitereminds us: 'There's no place like Nome.'

What is the name of the capital city of Thailand?

Grung Tape.

The city's day-to-day name, which means 'City of Angels' (the same as Los Angeles), is an abbreviation for the official name, which is the longest place name in the world.

Only ignorant foreigners call it Bangkok, which hasn't been used in Thailand for more than 200 years. For Europeans (and every single one of their encyclopaedias) to go on calling the capital of Thailand Bangkok is a bit like Thais insisting that the capital of Britain is called Billingsgate or Winchester.

Grung Tape (the rough p.r.o.nunciation) is usually spelt Krung Thep.

Bangkok was the name of the small fis.h.i.+ng port that used to exist before King Rama I moved his capital there in 1782, built a city on the site and renamed it.

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