History of the Toilet4/11/13

Going Inside 2500 B.C. First indoor toilets in the

Indus valley Toilets empty into a sewer system

Royal Flush First flushing toilet made in Crete circa

1500 B.C. Uses rainwater to flush

Really Public Bathrooms Around 800 B.C., Romans start using

public bathrooms. The rectangular rooms had no privacy

and seated as many as 11,000

This Job is the Pits By 1300, people mostly use outhouses,

shacks built over deep pits. While cleaning his outhouse, Richard

the Raker falls down the pit and drowns.

Heads Up By the 1500’s most people used

chamber pots People would yell “Gardy-Loo” when

throwing the contents of their chamber pots out their windows

A Charmin’ Idea In 1857, Joseph Gayetty invented toilet

paper. Previous to this, people would use old

corncobs or magazine pages.

Bathroom Reading In 1672, there was a chamber pot

made to appear as a stack of books. It became the most popular model in

France

Stop Making Scents In 1775, Alexander Cummings invented

the S-valve. This allowed toilets to flush like they do

now.

Sculptured Seats 1885, Thomas Twyford invented the

one piece toilet It eliminated the bad smell of old

models.

Minding Your Business In 1999, the Matsushita company

previewed a toilet that could analyze body fat content.

It is set to be on the market in the next few years.

Solid Gold This toilet was built in 2001 and is

made of 24-carat gold. To use it, you have to wear a plastic

cover to avoid scuffing it.