When the toilet was invented

Queen Elizabeth I complained about the foul smell of unemptied toilets in her Richmond palace. In 1595, her courtier, Sir John Harrington, came to the rescue. During his travels in Italy, he heard about a fascinating invention, a toilet that flushes off the filth with water.

Harrington's flush toilet was finally installed in Richmond Palace.

Harrington was intrigued by the idea of a book on the flushing of the toilet. But flush toilets are impractical for most people when they don't have any main sewerage pipes, no running water, and no money to pay for plumbing. Most people still clean their empty toilets or let the "night diggers" clean up the filth, and it's still business as usual.

The English inventor Joseph Bramme improved the design of the flush toilet in the late 18th century. He used components such as a three-ball valve that controls the flow of water in the tank, and a U-bend that ensures that the smell of the sewer pipe does not allow the user to connect to it. He patented this flush toilet in 1778.

It wasn't until the late 19th century, when European towns and cities had installed sewage systems with water pipes, that most people had access to flush toilets. Right: An important feature of the flush toilet is the S-shaped pipe, or sinkway in the sewer, which always holds some water.

This water acts as a gasket that covers the odor.

Even large cities like London were not providing drainage until the sixties of the 19th century, when many people first enjoyed the benefits of flush toilets. And that's more than 300 years after Harrington's invention.

Englishman John Harrington.

Queen Elizabeth I complained about the foul smell of unemptied toilets in her Richmond palace. In 1595, her courtier, Sir John Harrington, came to the rescue. During his travels in Italy, he heard about a fascinating invention, a toilet that flushes off the filth with water.

Harrington's flush toilet was finally installed in Richmond Palace.

Harrington was intrigued by the idea of a book on the flush toilet. But flush toilets are impractical for most people when they don't have any main sewerage pipes, no running water, and no money to pay for plumbing. Most people still clean their empty toilets or let the "night diggers" clean up the filth, and it's still business as usual.

The English inventor Joseph Bramme improved the design of the flush toilet in the late 18th century. He used components such as a three-ball valve that controls the flow of water in the tank, and a U-bend that ensures that the smell of the sewer pipe does not allow the user to connect to it. He patented this flush toilet in 1778.

It wasn't until the late 19th century, when European towns and cities had installed sewage systems with water pipes, that most people had access to flush toilets. Right: An important feature of a flush toilet is the S-shaped pipe, or drain bend in the sewer, which always holds some water.

This water acts as a gasket that covers the odor.

Even large cities like London were not providing drainage until the sixties of the 19th century, when many people first enjoyed the benefits of flush toilets. And that's more than 300 years after Harrington's invention.

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