Modern man cannot imagine his life without this household item. We are so used to it that we don’t think about how this miracle of technology came about. And the story of this subject is very interesting. Before you figure out who invented the toilet, it’s interesting to know how people lived at the beginning of history.
When you haven’t heard about toilets
Imagine a world in which there is not a single toilet? And there was such a time. Almost everywhere where ancient people made stops, archaeologists find excavated and fenced pits, with fossils from feces. The age of such toilets is estimated at 5 thousand years.
Near the coast of Scotland they found latrines, arranged like ruts in stone walls, leaving in a gutter. A little later, the toilets became a little more civilized, but they were far from the invention of the toilet.
First sewer
The first mention of sewage refers to the ancient Indian civilization. The city of Mohenjo-Daro appeared around 2600 BC. e. and lasted about 900 years. That is, the settlement flourished in ancient Egypt. It is considered one of the most advanced in South Asia at that time.
Not surprisingly, the first public restrooms and even a sewage system throughout the city appeared in such a developed area. The walls of the drains were finished with bricks, and on top they were covered with limestone, which had a disinfecting effect. The depth of the canals reached 60 cm. Over the widest places built bridges for the convenience of pedestrians. Wastes passed through sewers through sewers. All solid particles remained in them, which were later used as fertilizer.
Toilets were built in the form of brick boxes, and the seats on them were made of wood. On vertical trays, waste descended into the sewer or a special pit.
Ancient Rome toilets for the poor
Toilets of simple poor people were in many ways similar to modern street constructions preserved in small towns and villages. These were stone cubicles with a hole in the floor. Sewage went into the hole under the hole. They were cleaned only after full filling, which greatly outraged visitors. They expressed their dissatisfaction with eloquent letters on the walls, which further encourages recollections of the current latrines.
Public restrooms for the elite in ancient Rome
Although Rome did not become the place where the toilet was invented, their elite toilets have become history. These were marble benches arranged in a circle shape. Sometimes the seats were decorated with paintings.
True, there were no partitions between places, so one could only dream of privacy. But, judging by the finds of archaeologists, the ancient Romans did not need him. The restrooms were used as a meeting place, where necessary business was combined with the usual chatter. Such gatherings were far from affordable for everyone, since the emperor decided to collect money from wealthy visitors to latrines.
Toilets were equipped with sewers with running streams, washing away sewage into the Tiber River. In such places there were murmuring fountains, incense spread, the orchestra and singing birds drowned out sounds unpleasant to the ear. Around there were slaves who were responsible for monitoring the cleanliness of the toilets, and sometimes warming their bodies with marble bodies for the owners.
With all the seeming reasonableness, the sewers of that time were far from perfect. Some channels in just one year were clogged with sludge to complete impassability.
Offensive Europe
The following years did not benefit from the improvement of latrines. Modern man would be horrified by medieval orders. Castles of those times were felt for 2 km by a characteristic smell. One of the reasons for the stench was a ditch of sewage around the building. It was filled thanks to the restrooms, arranged right in the walls with a round hole in the protruding slab. Externally, the annexes were like a small copy of ordinary balconies. Such structures were called "bay windows".
It was rarely possible to meet a castle without a sharp stench. Only the lakes instead of the usual ditches helped to reduce the strength of the amber. Noble residents of the Louvre were forced to leave the castle from time to time, so that it could be washed and ventilated.
“Fragrances” were distributed not only by a bunch of sewage around the castle. No matter how wild it may sound for a person accustomed to convenience, coping with needs was considered normal. It could be a yard, a staircase, a corridor or a secluded place behind the curtain. Not least, diarrhea provoked by terrifying unsanitary conditions played a role in behavioral norms.
All this happened not in abandoned villages, but in cities known to the whole world: Paris, Madrid, London, etc. The streets were filled with sewage and waste, freely walking pigs also did not contribute to cleanliness. When the mess was diluted with rains, people stood on stilts, because in the usual way it became impossible to move.
Night Pots in the Middle Ages
Everywhere night pots were used, which brightly entered the history of the creation of toilets. The first representatives were made of copper, but over time, the vessels began to represent the viability of the owner. The pots of the rich became earthenware, with elaborate murals and decorated with stones.
To demonstrate this magnificence was given the opportunity even at balls. The vessel for the dear guest majestically flashed over those present to just as pathos carried away filled.
Instead of complex sewer systems, the whole of Europe has chosen the simplest method: pouring the contents of a night pot out of a window. In Paris, the upcoming action was warned by a cry: "Attention, pouring!". There is an opinion that it was thanks to this habit that fashion for wide-brimmed hats was introduced.
Unsuccessful attempt to create the first toilet
The foundations of the Middle Ages were not due to the lack of ideas for ennoblement. The stench of the French court inspired Leonardo da Vinci to create the project of the first toilet. The scientist thought out and drew systems for water supply, drainage to the sewer and even ventilation. But he never became the one who invented the toilet. The king did not appreciate the idea, and the court continued to use pots.
Milan, unlike France, decided to take the advice of a genius, and arranged a sewer throughout the city. Ditches were made under the streets, into which all the waste got through the holes in the pavements.
Who invented the toilet for the first time
The drain tank was invented for Elizabeth by her first godson. John Harington was the first to come up with a toilet. And in what year did this happen? In 1596. But the system did not take root. The need remained in the form of a night vase, but a container of water appeared above it, washing away the sewage. The draining procedure was started using a special valve.
It was worth the construction of 30 shillings of 6 pence, which was quite expensive. But the invention escaped widespread not because of cost, but because of the lack of a water supply and sewage system at that time. The updated need did not solve the problem of smells, since sewage was not removed outside the castle, but remained under the same vase.
New ideas have not changed the old habits of the nobility. For Louis the First it was quite common during a conversation to change the throne from the usual to a special one with a round hole in the seat and a pot below. A similar toilet was at Catherine de Medici, decorated with red velvet. And she, too, did not hesitate to meet guests in a peculiar chair. After the death of her husband, the color of the pot changed to black, so that no one would have doubts about the widow's grief.
At the same time, fashion came for small oblong-shaped pots that the ladies carried with them. The vessels allowed the woman in a wide skirt to relieve the need right in a public place.
Further development of the toilet
By 1775, London had already acquired a sewage system, which allowed the metropolitan watchmaker to be the first to invent a toilet with a sink. The year 1778 was marked by the invention of a cast-iron structure and a lid for improving sanitation. The new look has become widespread among users. Soon, enamelled steel and earthenware began to be used for vessels.
Most of those who invented the toilet, mankind remembered the name of Thomas Crapper. Even in our times, the English call the toilets “crackers”. They came up with a similar word for a long detention in the restroom - “crap”.
The object familiar today became especially widespread in the nineteenth century. This was not due to a cultural breakthrough, but because of the rapid spread of diseases that forced the government to intervene.
It is not known exactly who and in which year invented the toilet bowl with a u-shaped drain pipe, but this was a significant breakthrough. The new discovery allowed us to save the room from the scents of sewage. Next, they invented a chain with a handle for starting the drain and a truck crane for starting water in the tank.
In 1884, the name UNITAS was first used. This word meant "union of aspirations." Thomas Twyford created an earthenware container, and the seat was made of wood. Presented the toilet in the capital of England at an international exhibition.
Active distribution of toilets
Russia took up the active production of the device. Already in 1912, one company produced 40 thousand items. The figure began to grow rapidly: in 1929, 150 thousand toilet bowls were manufactured in one year, and at the beginning of Stalin's rule, 280 thousand.
Today, no civilized person can imagine his life without a toilet in the apartment. Many firms invent new designs, but the most common is the usual white made of earthenware.