44 Unsanitary Facts About The History Of The Toilet
Does any modern miracle go more unsung than the toilet? Let’s face it, we don’t appreciate a proper place to “go” until we really need it. So, let’s take a few moments to express our gratitude to the contraption that has kept humanity—and other species, as we’ll see—in such tidy and digestive comfort for hundreds of years.
While the flushing toilet is very much a symbol of modernity, it’s just the latest evolutionary stage in humanity’s quest for intestinal relief. How did we get from holes in benches to complex “water closets”
of running liquid and tolerable stenches? And what did dinosaurs and long-dead emperors have to do with it? Make those pipes sing to these 44 splashing facts about the history of toilets.
History Of The Toilet Facts
44. End of the Roll
A big part of life, a big part of death: the tomb of a Western Han Dynasty king of China was discovered to contain an early toilet. It was installed there sometime between 206 BC and 24 AD, so who knows how it got there.
43. Boys Clun No More
For most of modern history, public restrooms have been a largely male resource. It was harder for a lady to come by a proper public loo, which was symptomatic of their “place” being viewed as within the home.
With the rise of 20th-century department stores, however, came the rise of the “ladies’ washroom.” Managers needed women to feel “relieved” enough to buy things, after all.
