What possessed a nineteenth-century inventor to replace the simple Anglo-Saxon plug with this complex mechanism of ratchets and rods

Upstairs, an hour later, I wondered for the thousandth time why the French prefer such a complicated system to drain their bathwater. What possessed a nineteenth-century inventor to replace the simple Anglo-Saxon plug with this complex mechanism of ratchets and rods – a dial to raise the valve? Constant adjustment is necessary to ensure that the bath doesn’t drain as you fill, or resolutely refuse to empty

S. Loftus, Puligny-Montrachet (1992. New ed. 2019), 269

‘Not all of them,’ insists Vincent, when I mention this. ‘Only the pretty ones.’

Vincent [Leflaive], on the other hand, could never be mistaken for other than he is. His shabbiness in the vineyards at vintage time is that of the gentleman farmer; the inevitable cravat tucked into the collar of his shirt and a handkerchief into the top pocket of a favourite tweed jacket, well worn but evidently well cut. He greets everyone by name and they all respond with a smile of respect and affection. And he kisses all the girls as he greets them. ‘Not all of them,’ insists Vincent, when I mention this. ‘Only the pretty ones.’

S. Loftus, Puligny-Montrachet (1992. New ed. 2019), 227-8

Louis XI, cunning and cold, secretly financed the Swiss to attack his rebellious subject

Gazing at this map [of Charles the Bold’s territories], Burgundian children must have marvelled at the extent of Charles’s vast domain, stretching north from his dukedom of Burgundy to incorporate the Franche-Comte, Alsace, Lorraine and Luxembourg, Picardy and Artois, Flanders, Brabant and Holland – this was the richest state of fifteenth-century Europe, effectively independent of feudal overlords. But Louis XI, cunning and cold, secretly financed the Swiss to attack his rebellious subject and Charles was killed at the battle of Anancy in 1477. His frozen corpse, half naked and gnawed by wolves, was discovered in an icy stream two days after the defeat of his armies. 

S. Loftus, Puligny-Montrachet (1992. New ed. 2019), 117

He fears him more than the Russians

‘Loulou Carillon’s father is afraid Mitterand will take away all his vineyards – he fears him more than the Russians. In the first round, eight-three people in Puligny voted for Le Pen. It’s very difficult to try to imagine who they were. Most of them have never seen an immigrant in their lives’

Bookbinder of Puligny, cited in S. Loftus, Puligny-Montrachet (1992. New ed. 2019), 140

The Royal Oak is the third most common pub name in Britain

Oak Apple Day was declared a public holiday by parliament, and its official celebration continued until 1859. The date is still celebrated as Founder's Day at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. 

The Royal Oak is the third most common pub name in Britain. Since the Restoration there have been at last eight warships called HMS Royal Oak.

J. Lewis-Stempel, The glorious life of the oak (2018), 27

The supposed icon of the “Spanish reconquest” actually spent much of his career defending Muslim kingdoms against their Muslim and Christian enemies

And so it was that when the armies of the two taifa kingdoms clashed at the Battle of Cabra in 1079, each was led by a detachment of Castilian knights. The commander of those supporting al-Mu’tamid was a seasoned warrior named Rodrigo de Vivar. When he routed ‘Abd Allah’s forces and their leader, his bitter enemy Garcia Ordoñez, the Muslim troops of the Sevelle acclaimed Rodrigo as al-sayyid (“lord,” in Arabic), which his Castilian countrymen imitated, calling him El Cid. The supposed icon of the “Spanish reconquest” actually spent much of his career defending Muslim kingdoms against their Muslim and Christian enemies.

B. Catlos, Kingdoms of faith (2018) 220

He’ll pass then, whereas Kennedy could never have passed them

One Senator did not share those feelings [that the South could block civil rights]. “Smarter than they are” though Richard Russell may have been – smarter than his opponents in the Senate – it was not other senators who were Russell’s real opponents now, but the new President, and Russell felt that would change everything. The Kennedy bills would be passed now, Russell told a friend. “He’ll pass then, whereas Kennedy could never have passed them.” (465)

R. Caro, The years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 4: the passage of power (2012), 465