The flushing toilet

Sir John Harington invented the flushing toilet for his own manor house in Somerset and his godmother, Queen Elizabeth I, requested one for herself when she visited him in 1592. However, this did not become a brilliant business opportunity for Harington, whose main interest was writing. People continued to use their chamber pots for many years after that.

Eventually, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the growth of the population in burgeoning cities, necessity stepped in. In 1775, Alexander Cummings patented the S-bend in a re-vamped version of Harington’s idea. With massive break-outs of cholera and typhoid, caused largely by dirty brown tap water, the authorities decided to build sewage systems. These were completed in the mid-19th century.

From that point on, manufacturers such as Twyford put flushing toilets into mass production. Thomas Crapper was the first manufacturer to have a toilet showroom but, contrary to popular belief, he did not actually invent the toilet.

(Image: Thomas Twyford Co. at Wikimedia Commons / Public domain)