Interesting article. I'm perpetually fascinated by the causal chains that have influenced aspects of our lives that we otherwise entirely take for granted.
psykotic & johnbenwoo - thank you for the recommendation and URL. This is definitely something I would enjoy immensely.
The cold tap is generally on the right side of a sink.
This is because cold taps were around long before hot taps and as most people are right-handed they were put on that side.
At least that's what I was told (OK trivial example)