# You learn something new every day. Here's my contribution. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 15, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012 "2016-07-15T23:02:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/1 "2016-07-15T23:02:51Z")
It’s common knowledge that on May 3, 1954, Roger Bannister became the first man to run a mile in less than 4 minutes. Less well known, and unknown to me until yesterday, is that fellow Brit Diane Leather became the first woman to run a mile in less than 5 minutes, just 26 days later and not all that far away. > **[Diane Leather](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Leather)** > > Diane S Leather Charles (7 January 1933 – 5 September 2018) was an English athlete who was the first woman to run a sub-5-minute mile. > Leather was born in Streetly, Staffordshire. She was one of six children, and the only daughter, of Mabel (née Barringer) and James Leather, a surgeon. She played lacrosse as a child, and watching the 1952 Summer Olympics sparked her interest in athletics. While studying chemistry at the Birmingham College of Technology (now Aston University), she joined the B... 🆒 Just thought I’d share that. ---
**Author:** ![Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90ced4/32.png) [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waltzes_with_Cacti)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2016, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/2 "2016-07-16T01:14:30Z")
Today I was surprised to learn that the late Charles Bronson, a favorite actor of mine, wasn’t Jewish, as I’d always assumed. He was a Roman Catholic. > **[Charles Bronson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bronson)** > > Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his "granite features and brawny physique," he gained international fame for his starring roles in action, western, and war films; initially as a supporting player and later a leading man. A quintessential cinematic "tough guy", Bronson was cast in various roles where the plot line hinged on the authenticity of the character's toughness and brawn. At the height of his fame in B... ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/3 "2016-07-16T03:07:36Z")
I learned today that “Game of Thrones” is (apparently) a TV series. I saw something connecting it with an Emmy, but I wasn’t sure if it was a video game or a movie or a book or what, so I looked it up on Wikipedia… ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2016, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/4 "2016-07-16T04:04:43Z")
I learned that many English homes have separate faucets for hot and cold water. Getting less common, but still exists. [My Mom is British and I did not know this.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfHgUu_8KgA) ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2016, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/5 "2016-07-16T04:29:23Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I learned that many English homes have separate faucets for hot and cold water. Getting less common, but still exists. > [My Mom is British and I did not know this.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfHgUu_8KgA) Uhhhh… I don’t understand. Just about every house I’ve ever seen has separate faucets for hot and cold water. For the bathroom anyway. Then again, I don’t know anyone who lives in ultra-new housing. Is this becoming obsolete or something? ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/6 "2016-07-16T23:54:20Z")
You’re not understanding the right thing. **Mahaloth** clearly says that he does not know his mom is British. Many newer plumbing fixtures use a single handle that adjusts flow rate and temperature. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/7 "2016-07-17T02:25:20Z")
I think he’s talking about two completely separate spigots, with the hot and cold not mixing before coming out in single stream. but rather two separate streams. Common in older houses in America when I was growing up, too. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/8 "2016-07-18T00:27:52Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I learned that many English homes have separate faucets for hot and cold water. Getting less common, but still exists. > > [My Mom is British and I did not know this.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfHgUu_8KgA) When I visited a friend in 1970 who had recently moved to England, he told me that mixing faucets were illegal there. Apparently, there was a fear that microbes could develop in the hot water tank, move into the mixing faucet, move into the cold water supply and contaminate the neighborhood. All this in a moving stream of water. I kid you not. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/9 "2016-07-18T00:31:38Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I learned that many English homes have separate faucets for hot and cold water. Getting less common, but still exists. Uh, no. we don’t have faucets at all. We have taps.😛 ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/10 "2016-07-18T00:54:17Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I learned today that “Game of Thrones” is (apparently) a TV series. I saw something connecting it with an Emmy, but I wasn’t sure if it was a video game or a movie or a book or what, so I looked it up on Wikipedia… I learned recently that “gaol” and “jail” are pronounced the same way. I’m 42 and had always thought “gaol” was an archaic spelling _and_ pronunciation of today’s “jail”. Edit: I included the quote because I figure mine is also in the category of things everyone else knew but I had just found out. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/11 "2016-07-18T01:12:54Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > I learned recently that “gaol” and “jail” are pronounced the same way. I’m 42 and had always thought “gaol” was an archaic spelling _and_ pronunciation of today’s “jail”. Well I’ll be damned. It didn’t know that either but it is a little disappointing. I want the pronunciation to be something like “gall”. It sounds disturbingly medieval that way. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/12 "2016-07-18T02:31:10Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I learned today that “Game of Thrones” is (apparently) a TV series. I saw something connecting it with an Emmy, but I wasn’t sure if it was a video game or a movie or a book or what, so I looked it up on Wikipedia… Game of Thrones is a TV series based on a book series. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/13 "2016-07-18T14:24:08Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > Game of Thrones is a TV series based on a book series. Which is called _[A Song of Ice and Fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire)_. _[A Game of Thrones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Game_of_Thrones)_ is the title of the first novel in the cycle. Yeah. We knew about this already. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/14 "2016-07-18T14:30:31Z")
I learned that ‘jaywalking’ meant [walking like a country bumpkin who doesn’t know he’s supposed to walk only at the corners.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaywalking) Apparently ‘jay’ in some areas at one time meant ‘rube’. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/15 "2016-07-20T00:55:21Z")
I learned that there are people stupid enough to write enterprise level data conversion software without documenting it in an Interface Control Document. Not that it makes any difference, since the enterprise is too stupid to have a place to store documentation, so when I wrote one (out of the goodness of my heart), I had to email it to the likely suspects and tell them to pass it along. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/16 "2016-07-20T01:40:23Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Which is called _[A Song of Ice and Fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire)_. _[A Game of Thrones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Game_of_Thrones)_ is the title of the first novel in the cycle. > > Yeah. We knew about this already. I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/17 "2016-07-20T09:31:34Z")
I found out that Firemen (at least in my city) can write tickets just like policemen. I was working with a Fire/Rescue Captain at the local high school when we encountered someone’s car parked in a fire lane. He insisted the owner move his car and clear the lane. The owner objected until the firemen began writing a ticket and called on his radio for the city to send a tow truck. It makes sense I suppose, but I hadn’t realized a fireman could actually write tickets for parking violations. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/18 "2016-07-20T10:54:00Z")
According to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_House_for_Mr_Biswas), the James Bond theme is based on a song called “Good Sign, Bad Sign.” It was written for a musical called _A House for Mr. Biswas_, based on a novel of the same name. You can listen to the song [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6EuzGhIyRQ). ---
**Author:** ![darazusa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@darazusa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/darazusa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/19 "2016-07-22T09:03:35Z")
charo can play the guitar. apparently the everyone knew but me. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/20 "2016-07-22T14:29:26Z")
If you’re eating pistachios and can’t open the nut because the slit is too narrow or too tight to open using your nails, take a used shell half, insert it into the opening, turn it like you would a key and “Viola!” you got yourself some fresh pistachio innards! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012.md?page=2)