Topic Tuesday #51 2013/07/09 - "And why is that?"

Topic Tuesday #51 2013/07/09 - "And, why is that?"

I would wager that most of you that wind up reading this are a bit like me. You want to know. What exactly you want to know changes from moment to moment, though the driving insatiably curiosity never wanes. 
Currently my little compulsion has been directed to absorb as much as I can about the connections between the things in our everyday lives. I suppose I could blame my young daughters as the inspiration to ask "why" and "how" as much as I do, but that would be false; I just want to know.

As an example of what I mean, let's go out to eat. We sit down at a typical table in a typical restaurant. Before we are served, we'll inquisitively examine the common table accoutrements.
With exceptions approaching zero, we will be faced with Salt and Pepper. Even if the meal is "to go" and has a knife and fork wrapped in a napkin or you are on the front lines in a foreign land with an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat), there will be salt and pepper. Why? Why have these two condiments graced our tables with such ubiquity?
It turns out to be a long story, that I would have to dedicate a lengthy post to. (Which I may.) We shouldn't end there though... There are so many things in the world that have long and sorted tales behind them.

Oh good the meal has arrived.
Say the place we went to eat was Indian, and we had the typically famous Pad Thai. It's delicious and notable for the peanut sauce. Wait a second... Why peanuts? Peanuts were found half a world away and are not native to Asia. A signature dish, that can only have its signature flavor because of global colonization.

There are countless such rich histories around you. All you have to do is open your eyes and inquire.

One more before I leave you to explore your world: You have heard of lavatories being known as a WC (water closet), right? Why is it called that?

Because that is the room where the royal personage received their enemas of course! Actual flushing toilets wouldn't come about for many decades after.

Have you discovered any history about common items?