Is it true that Running was invented in 1779 by a Mr John Running when he tried to walk twice at the same time?

@windinhishair Was he the genius who invented the toilet I knew in my childhood, you know, the one with a cistern 10 feet high and a long chain to flush?

@NankerPhelge That was probably what he was working with. Toilets before his time had an S-trap on the exit which were prone to plugging. He improved it to the U-trap we use today. The tall cistern was to provide a higher water pressure to push the waste through.

@windinhishair So who was the chump who destroyed these lofty, magnificent pieces of British workmanship and replaced them with boring low-level ones? And why?

@NankerPhelge I'm not sure. I think the lower-profile units were able to flush properly without the addition head provided by the elevation, so they gradually disappeared.

@windinhishair Yes, but the higher ones were better. They were loftier, grander, more magnificent and more aesthetically pleasing. What part of that didn't they understand when they took the old ones away?

@NankerPhelge Who knows?

@windinhishair This is something that has been bugging me since I was about 12 and I still don't know why it happened.