The toilet is one of the most famous inventions. Here is why.

1. The Toilet
The name Thomas Crapper usually comes up whenever people discuss who invented the toilet. Flush
the rumors that you heard, becauseothers beat him to it. Sir John Harrington came along three
centuries before Crapper and created the first version of the flushing toilet for Queen Elizabeth I in
1596. Sir Harrington invented a valve that could release water from the water closet when pulled,
allowing the queen to pull the valve, or flush, once a day. His model became commonplace around
Europe over the 18th and 19th centuries. By this time toilet paper had already been around for many
years. It dates back to the late 14th century, when it was created by the Chinese for their emperors.
Crapper is considered an entrepreneur and major salesman of the toilet, but not an inventor. While he
earned nine patents for otherplumbing products in England, it was actually one of his employees, Albert
Gilblin, who earned the British Patent for what was called the “Silent Valveless Water Waste Preventer”
in 1819. Crapper later purchased the rights of Gilbin’s patent and marketed the device. He established
sanitation showrooms and imprinted his last name on the toilets, which is likely what sparked the theory
that he was the inventor.
Before Sir Harrington’s invention was widely distributed, people relieved themselves in chamber pots
and tossed the contents outside and into nearby waterways. This was extremely unsanitary and surely a
factor in the spread of sickness and diseases. Imagine having to see the waste of other humans floating
where you bathe, or having to smell it in the streets. The flushing toilet is considered by many to be one
of the most important inventions in the world, and with good reason. Without it life would be much
more inconvenient and crappy, no pun intended.