HISTORY OF THE TOILET

By: Stillman Cunningham

GOING INSIDE

About 2500 BC, first known indoor toilets

No flushing toilets

Most toilet technology will take place in Europe

ROYAL FLUSH

Plumbers from Crete installed the world’s first flush toilet in the queen’s bathroom

Rainwater is released into the bowl and into a clay pipe

An earthquake destroyed the royal house around 1400 BC

REALLY PUBLIC BATHROOMS

Around 800 BC in Rome, Cloaca Maxima is under construction

11,000 seats are lined up along stone henches

Sponges on the end of a stick were used for wiping

THIS JOB IS THE PITS

Pits were built to collect peoples waiste

Outhouse cleaner, Richard the Raker falls through a rotten floor and drowns in his waiste

HEADS UP

City dwellers relieved themselves in a chamber pot.

When throwing out the filled bowl, people who yell “Gardy Loo”

Yelling “Gardy Loo” was to warn people who were walking below

A CHARMIN’ IDEA

Joseph Gayetty introduced toilet paper

Each sheet had Gayetty’s signature

Before toilet paper, people used pages from catalogs

BATHROOM READING

Readers sometimes bought disguised chamber pots

Some disguised chamber pots as a stack of books

The stack of books diguise is one of the most popular modes in France

STOP MAKING SCENTS

Alexander Cummings made a device known as the S-trap

In 1775 the modern flushing toilet in created

The S-trap keeps the bowl filled with water

SCULPTURED SEATS

Thomas Twyford introduced the Unitas

Ceramic toilets eliminated smelly wood and metal models

Many ceramic toilets gotten designed

MINDING YOUR BUSINESS

The Matsushita Electronic Industrial Company produces smart toilets

High-tech bowl measures your body weight and body fat

Sensors on the toilet can analyze your health