The INSIDER Summary:


Kit Harington's brooding role of Jon Snow on "Game of Thrones" is way more interesting (and pun filled) than you realize. Not only is Kit Harington the relative of John Harington - a 16th century author, poet, and inventor of Britain's first flushed toilet - but that same ancestor might be the very reason we call a toilet "the John."

In an interview with Elle Magazine, the topic of Harington's royally flushed past came up.

Elle: The Internet is rife with rumors about you. Is it true that one of your ancestors invented the first flushing toilet for Queen Elizabeth I?


Elle: Wait. We all refer to the loo as "the john" because of your family?

Kit Harington: That's 100 percent true. It's called "the John Harington."

Kit Harington: Yeah. [Laughs] I'm glad it's not called "the Harington." [My family] also wrote the queen a lot of bad poetry. I've inherited the bad poetry genes, but not the inventor genes.


Turns out this isn't the first time Kit's family history has been brought up. In a 2014 Rolling Stone interview , fans learned about John Harington the inventor and other posh British ancestors the "Game of Thrones" star calls family.

We must note that apparently the etymology of "the John" is disputed, as some historical articles claim that people were calling the toilet "the John" before John Harington invented a flushable one for Queen Elizabeth I.

But, as Kit's response in the Elle interview reveals, he and his family believe they own the legacy of "the John" and that's good enough for us. Especially coming from King Jon Snow himself.