History of the Toilet Ali Wolfe 4/8/15

Going Inside 2500 BC: First known indoor toilets Non-Flushing Toilets

Royal Flush About 1500 BC: Plumbers on the Greek island of Crete install the world's first flush toilet in the queen's bathroom. Earthquake destroys the royal house around 1400 Ac. I t will be many centuries before toilet technology rises to this level again.

Really Public Bathrooms 800 BC: In Rome, construction of the Cloaca Maxima takes place. As many as 11,000 seats are lined up in rectangular rooms along stone henches. For wiping, there's a sponge on a stick.

The Job is the Pits 1300 AD: Many Europeans are doing their business in outhouses. An English outhouse-cleaner known as Richard the Raker meets an end. While cleaning out the smelly waste that has built up in the pit under his own outhouse, Richard falls through the rotted floor and drowns.

Heads Up 1500s: Many European city­ dwellers relieve themselves indoors in a bowl called a chamber pot. When the pot is full, they just toss the contents out the window, shouting "Gardy-loo!" (which means "watch out for the water“.)

A Charmin’ Idea 1857: Joseph Gayetty of New York introduces toilet paper. Each sheet is printed with Gayetty's signature. Before this, people used whatever they could find, including dried corncobs and pages from catalogs.

Bathroom Reading 1672: Devoted readers who don't have time to leave the library can buy a fancy chamber pot disguised as a stack of books.

Stop Making Scents 1775: An English watchmaker named Alexander Cummings patents a device known as the S-trap, and the modern flush toilet is-finally born. It’s a valve that keeps the bowl filled with water. It allows poop to go down without letting smells come up.

Sculptured Seats 1885: Englishman Thomas Twyford introduces the Unitas, the first one­Piece, all-ceramic toilet. The new john eliminates the leaky joints that made earlier wood-and-metal models smelly. These ceramic toilets catch on quickly; many are covered with decorations or molded into the shapes of animals.

Minding your business 1999: The Matsushita Electronic Industrial Company of Japan previews a toilet. The high-tech bowl measures your weight and body-fat con­tent, and chemical sensors inside analyze your output for information about your health.