History of the Toilet

History of the Toilet By: Liam Sorensen

Going inside • Bricks were laid as a sewer system • Harappan city dwellers • Indus Valley • Do they flush yet?

Royal Flush • Plumbers on the island of Crete installed the first flush toilet. • This toilet was for the queen • Earthquake destroyed the whole castle

Really Public Bathrooms • In Rome, 800 BC, the Cloaca Maxima was built • This was the sewer system where the toilets were built right above the sewer • There was only one whipping sponge

The job is the pits • Outhouses became the fad in 1300 AD • They were toilets built over a large pit where the excrements would fall • Someone who cleaned out houses was called Richard the Raker

Heads up!!! • Before sewer systems were standard people used to just dump there waste out a window • When they would dump it they would yell “Gardy-loo!”

A Charmin’ idea • The genius Gayeyty made toilet paper • Before this discovery people used to use weird items to clean them selves • i.e. corncobs, newspaper, and catalogs

Bathroom reading • Chamber pots became a sense of style • In France chamber pots that were disguised as a stack of books became very popular • You always wanted to be on top of your chamber pot game

Stop making scents • Finally in 1775 Alexander Cummings invented a toilet where the smell of the sewer would now come out of the toilet when you had to flush • This was called the S-trap

Sculptured seats • Ceramic toilets were introduced in 1885 by Thomas Twyford • Many elaborate decorations • Wanted to show off wealth with cool toilets

Minding your business • The MEIC of Japan previewed a toilet that will tell you your weight and body-fat content • It may even analyze your output to give you information about your health…ewwww

Self cleaning toilets? • Toilets now can now clean you up once your done with them called a bidet • Some have heated seats • Many use very little water to try to conserve water

History of the Toilet