Flushing Out the Toilet

World Toilet Day, observed annually on November 19th, was established by the World Toilet Organization in 2001. Twelve years later, in 2013, it was declared an official United Nations international day. This day is meant to encourage people to think about the importance of toilet technology, and sanitation in general, in relation to global health and wellness. Though the right to clean water and sanitation has been officially recognized as a human right by the UN since 2010, there are millions of people across the globe who don’t have access to proper toilets, indoor plumbing and clean water. This leaves them highly vulnerable to illnesses such as cholera and diarrhea which kill millions annually. To help spread awareness about the importance of the toilet, here are some interesting facts about this household item that we often take for granted. It’s actually a super cool piece of engineering and technology that has a very interesting history.

The Toilet Was Not an Immediate Hit

The modern-style flush toilet became widespread in 1851, but it’s origins can actually be traced all the way back to the late 16th century and many inventors contributed to its development over time. The earliest documented flushing toilet was invented by writer John Harrington in 1596. Harington described the technology in detail and included blueprints of his invention in his book A New Discourse of a Stale Subject, called the Metamorphosis of Ajax which was published that same year. However, Harington very ahead of his time and the invention didn’t catch on at all, with only one model being made which was installed in Harington's home. It wasn’t until almost 200 years later, in 1775, that inventor Alexander Cumming patented a flushing toilet design, which improved on Harington’s original design by adding the signature s-shaped plumbing. Another hundred years passed and then in the 1880s, English inventor Thomas Crapper–yes, that’s actually his name–further improved the design and was the first to manufacture toilets on a large scale.

A Toilet for Gamers

Video game company SEGA created a urinal-videogame hybrid device called the Toylet. It sounds too crazy to be true, but it is! In 2011, the Japanese company installed some of these devices in men’s washrooms in select Tokyo Metro stations as a trial. The device is similar to a traditional urinal except there is a screen above, which is digitally connected to the urinal, where users can select from a variety of games which award points based on how the he urinates. For example, one of the games called “Graffiti Eraser” requires the user to use his urine to virtually erase graffiti from a wall. Though the Toylets didn’t last past their trial period at the metro stations, they are still available to use at some of SEGA’s Joylet amusement park locations across Japan. If you ever fancy gaming while reliving yourself, seems like Japan is the place to go!

An Object of Many Names

Because the toilet has been around for so long, it has so many different nicknames. Many of these derive from the fact that toilet talk is kind of taboo so people have for a long time come up with code words and nicknames to say in place of the word “toilet.”  Some of these nicknames are specific to certain regions of the world, while others are old names that have fallen out of fashion over time. There are literally hundreds of names for a toilet, but a few of the funniest and strangest ones we came across are biffy, thunder box, mug, porcelain God, long drop and dunny.