Sherlock's Fun Facts and Trivia

[Van Buren Supernova]

Place for Sherlock related fun facts, can be anything from anywhere, something you read, found, books, news etc, because...season 4 is still soo... far away, we...have.. to...survive.... and I am bored!


Some to start:

Glow-in-the-dark rabbit experiment exists in real lab, as effort to improve treatment for life-threatening illness, created by injecting jellyfish DNA to the embryos.

Capital punishment
The only country in Europe that hasn't abolished death penalty is Belarus.

It is illegal to die in the House of Parliament.**
Imagine if the train bomb went off, how many law breakers they had to arrest..

Martin Freeman had his wallet stolen before he went on first audition. He was in the bad mood because of that, the producers thought he was not interested in the role.

UK law; Mince pies cannot be eaten on Christmas Day.**
I guess that's why Mrs. Hudson still have them in the fridge on New Year Eve.

Pink used to be considered boy's color, it is the lighter version of red that is associated with men as men in England wear red uniform.

A writer called John Radford uses three different methods in his book to gauge Sherlock's IQ and comes to conclusion that his IQ is 190.

Dress codes at Buckingham Palace have changed greatly over two centuries. Evening court dress remained obligatory until the Second World War. Today there is no official dress code. Most men invited to Buckingham Palace in the daytime choose to wear service uniform or lounge suits.
So Sherlock doesn't break any dressing code, he is just not ordinary man.

 

 

Added: **Some sources say that these are myths, some others say these are legit. They could also be legit until certain point and repealed.

 

P.S. Don't worry to mess this thread up, if we have collected significant list, I'd compiled them and put them on top for easier read.

 

[Arcadia]

Here's a fun but completely irrelevant fact: at a chess match between Oxford and Cambridge in 1969, one of the winning players was named Holmes, and the other one was named Watson.

[Van Buren Supernova]

Nice. Did Holmes win over Watson?

 

 

Magpies are not thieves, they are merely inquisitive. They are interested in objects but show no preferences for shininess.

[Arcadia]

Nice. Did Holmes win over Watson?

I’m afraid I don’t know. I didn’t solve that one. It can happen sometimes. It’s very disappointing. :(

 

[Arcadia]

Fact: the Van Buren Supernova doesn't exist. :p

[Van Buren Supernova]

Fact: the Van Buren Supernova doesn't exist. :P

Whaaa... shocking.. I feel pretty much alive. XD

Actually, I tried to read on that before, and believe had posted it somewhere here.

Digging..digging... NAH.

 

In a public information release, it states that a supernova has been discovered  by a team of astronomers from California Institute of Technology and NASA.. Apparently supernovas are fairly common  , but this one is unique because it occurred in starburst galaxy.

And who heads that astronomer team? Dr. David Van Buren.

 

The supernova is not named after him, I suppose, unfortunately.

Link: Here.

[Van Buren Supernova]

There were earlier versions of The Great Game where all we would see from Moriarty is email address JimMoriarty@gmail.com, back when they would still plan 60 minutes episode.

 

London has the world's most demanding course for taxi drivers. One has to pass intense The Knowledge test that requires applicants to know 320 basic routes, 25000 streets, 20000 landmarks, pass other assessments and oral exams. In average the process takes 3-5 years to complete.

I wonder why Jeff Hope is still suck at choosing routes.

[Van Buren Supernova]

Just because there are lack of contributors you guys think this thread would go away?

Think again..!

Well, eventually it will. :P Keep trying.

 

 

Westin likes zombie movies, Lucy doesn't.

(Remember them? The couple in Bruce-Partington plan, taken from deleted scene in Sherlock's Chronicle)

 

Original name for Cluedo was Murder! It was created to pass time in underground bunkers during air raid drills WWII.

 

The technique Sherlock uses in deducing fake Vermeer painting (and non-existent supernova XD) is a real method known as 'astronomical chronology'.

[Arcadia]

The name Holmes may or may not mean "from the river island". Or it might have something to do with holly trees.

[Arcadia]

The name Watson means "son of Watt." :d

[Van Buren Supernova]

'Sherlock' meaning XD.

[Arcadia]

John means God is gracious. (Is that anything like "good gracious"? ) :d

[Van Buren Supernova]

Sound like something I could say for surprised expression XD, or maybe I could shorten it to John now that I know what John means. :p

 

Sphynx cats, breed of Connie Prince's pet, aren't hairless, they have thin layer of hair that resembles peach fuzz, but they are completely free of whiskers. 

[Van Buren Supernova]

The codes used in The Blind Banker is Suzhou numeral system, once widely used in marketplaces, for accounting and bookkeeping. (Mistake in the series as Sherlock refers it as Hangzhou, probably because these characters once were incorrectly named as Huangzhou numeral style in an Unicode (computing industry standard) that was later corrected/updated).

 

The hound horrible appearance concept was refer internally by crews as 'Frankenhound'.

[Van Buren Supernova]

Appledore, is owned in real life by millionaire Sir David McMurtry who doesn't live there because his wife thinks it is too flashy.

 

There is an actual family who named their children Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes in 1911 Britain's cencus record.

[Van Buren Supernova]

 

Brain aneurysm can goes unnoticed because there are hardly any symptoms. But if brain aneurysm ruptures, it could cause stroke, brain damage or death. However, it is not always lead to death and even treatable if aneurysm location is accessible.

 

Martin Freeman's grandfather was an army medic in World War II.

[Arcadia]

Elvis Costello wrote a song called Dr. Watson I Presume.

[J.P.]

Does its lyrics make sense to anyone?

[Arcadia]

Not me! :d But the music is kind of cool.

[Van Buren Supernova]

Nope. But there is something pretty deep there, I presume. I like Elvis Costello, will check this out when I am home.

[Arcadia]

There is also a "Sherlock Hound" cartoon called "Dr. Watson I Presume".

 

It turns out Elvis' song is about the American folk singer Doc Watson, which I should have guessed because I used to live a little way down the road from Doc and he was a pretty big deal at the time. Also it explains the choice of instruments used in the song. Doesn't really explain the lyrics, though.

[Van Buren Supernova]

SIB:

 

Sherlock refers to hiker in SIB as inept boomerang operator.

 

Mrs. Hudson's Christmas card "To my lovely boys, hope the next year brings you all the dead bodies and things you like."

 

Bin skittles: John's term for Sherlock throwing agent out of window.

[Arcadia]

Okay, now you're just making stuff up. xd

[J.P.]

This could also fit into the "Bad Obsession" thread:

A Study in Scarves

 

S1. Quite a shabby one if you ask me. It's hardly even  blue.

 

 

S2. A slightly better, checkered one. Got ruined by the fall.

 

 

The luxury one in S3. Maybe a present from Mycroft? The replica of this scarf is like 400 $.

But the two last pics make me wonder. They are from The case in the barracks. It could be the same as the crinkled structure is only a stripe or stripes, but it could be another one. Which got ruined by the soldier's blood.

[Arcadia]

The S3 ones definitely look like at least two different scarfs. Scarves? Neckwear.