Evolution of Toilet

You might not want to think about it too often, but you should certainly give thanks for the toilet that is in your bathroom right now. Toilets have certainly come a long way from their earliest incarnations, moving largely from a hole in the ground to an outhouse to the ceramic bowl most bathrooms feature as their centerpiece. So, if you didn’t appreciate the look and feel of your toilet, you certainly will after reading about where it came from!

??? B.C. A toilet supposedly existed in the palace of King Minos of Crete (a mythical king of Crete, son of Zeus), built by an unknown Minoan.

2500 B.C. (approximately) Ancient Egyptians had latrines that could be flushed by hand with buckets of water that emptied into earthenware pipes.

206 to 24 A.D. What may have been the first toilet was found in the tomb of a Chinese king in the Western Han Dynasty.

1189 London began having public and private facilities called “garderobes” that were connected to a pipe through the side of the building that allowed the waste to empty into a pit, moat or river outside. A huge public garderobe emptied into the Thames River, causing disease for the population that also drank from the water.

1530 The “close stool” replaced the garderobe as the most modern form of the latrine. It was simply a chair with a porcelain or metal pot underneath that needed to taken outside and emptied. The seat could be padded with any number of soft fabrics, and had handles for traveling, though this equipment was really only available for royalty and nobles. The poor still relieved themselves in the street or in a bucket in their homes, and then toss whatever was in that bucket out the window! No one yet knew of the connection between disease and exposure to sewage.

1596 A flush toilet was invented and built for Queen Elizabeth I by her godson, Sir John Harrington. One of the problems with this design, however, was its sewer gas was inadequately vented and leaked into other rooms in the palace…

1775 The first patent for the flushing toilet was issued to Alexander Cummings. He designed a toilet that allowed the water to be brought low into the bowl, so some would remain after each flush. The Cummings bowl was usually made of copper, but the seal the bottom of the toilet leaked sewer gas into the home. This gas carries disease in addition to being extremely explosive.

1778 Cabinetmaker Joseph Bramah sought to fix some of the problems with Cummings’ design, and he was issued a patent for a crank mechanism that kept the gas tightly sealed and away from the home.

1829 The Tremont Hotel of Boston was the first hotel to have indoor plumbing with eight water closets.

1860 The odor from the leaking sewer gas inspired Henry Moule, who developed the Earth Closet. This toilet dropped dirt or ashes onto the waste, effectively covering up the smell. This design still had to be emptied by hand.

1861 Thomas Crapper opened his shop in London. He only improved on the water closet, he is not the original inventor of the flush toilet! He invented a pull-chain system for flushing that was more powerful than any previously seen and an air-tight seal between the toilet and the floor. He also patented some venting systems for sewer gas. He also joined forces with Thomas Twyford to make ceramic toilet bowls, which soon became all the rage.  At this time, Americans were still only using the outhouse—their introduction to the flushing toilet wouldn’t be until after World War I.

1910 Toilet design began its change from the elevated water tank into the modern toilet, with a close tank and bowl.