Special Sub-Topic: The Littlest Room Authored by: ArleneRimmer Sub-topic of: Toilets & Toilet Paper

Who is credited with inventing the first flushable toilet?

Thomas Crapper. Thomas held three patents for water closets, so although there has been some debate about whether he was a made-up figure (possibly because of the surname) there is no doubt that he was the inventor of the flushable toilet as we know it today.

Although not used in the context of using the toilet any more, the phrase 'Getting the wrong end of the stick' did come from there. From whom did it originate?

the Romans. The Romans, like many of the ancient civilizations, used communal latrines, and would use a cloth-ended stick to clean themselves, and the phrase 'Getting the wrong end of the stick' came from this practice. I will leave it to your imagination to figure it out!

Which ancient civilisation is thought to have had the first 'raised' toilets (that is, as the modern toilet rather than a hole in the ground)?

Babylonia. The palace of Sargon the Great (721-705BC) had an elaborate arrangement of six toilets - like the Romans they enjoyed company while on the throne. Those toilets were at chair height as in modern times, and connections to drains which discharged into a main sewer have been found.

Sir John Harington, Queen Elizabeth I's godson, produced two toilets during his lifetime, one for himself, and one for the Queen. What did she call them?

a necessary. Poor John was ridiculed for his invention by his peers - who termed it an 'absurd device', but both toilets were used by their owners. It would be another two hundred years before another was made!

After half a million dollars was spent refurbishing the White House, the report mentioned that toilet facilities, which were previously noted for their absence, had been installed. In which year was this?

1902, when the west wing was built. Because the White House belongs to the United States rather than a private person, its condition was deteriorating steadily as the years went on, because Congress was reluctant to spend money on the fabric. It was not until the renovation in 1948 that its position was secure, as it was in danger of being razed and there was talk of a new ‘Executive Mansion’ being built on the site.

What was the reason for the old-fashioned practice of men walking on the outside of a woman while on a pavement (sidewalk)?

because people threw out the contents of chamberpots from upper windows. The angle at which the content of the chamber pots would have been thrown would put the person further from the building at risk from a very unpleasant deluge. It was therefore up to the man to be prepared to dodge the flush of the householder's toilet.

What does the word 'sewer' mean?

seaward. This comes from Old English, and literally comes from the old practice of open ditches in London leading towards the River Thames, and thence to sea. As London grew larger the tidal river was less and less able to cope with the amount of sewage being dumped there.

When cholera broke out in London in 1854 only one man believed it had anything to do with the fact that the River Thames had become a huge sewer from which the population was drawing their drinking water. What reason was given for the outbreak?

it was airborne. Dr John Snow did an in-depth study of the area most affected, because he noticed that neighbouring streets did not suffer as badly. Finding that one area drank more ale than water, and that the badly affected area drew their water from one pump in particular, he proved his theory by immobilising that pump. Unfortunately, because he was unable to name the cause of the outbreak precisely, it was some years before he was believed by the rest of the medical fraternity and anything was done about cleaning up the city's water supplies.

In 1858 London was in the grip of the 'Big Stink' because sewage was so polluting the River Thames that it was becoming unbearable. It was not until the MPs sitting in the Houses of Parliament were personally affected by it that a Bill was passed (very quickly!) to improve matters. Alongside 82 miles of 'sewage superhighway', how many miles of bricked sewers were built under the incredibly detailed plan formed by Joseph Bazalgette?

over 1,000 miles. Using the fact that London slopes towards the river, Bazalgette devised a system which used gravity to take the sewage away from homes and public toilets; the majority of sewers were built on a 'cut and shut' system, where roads were dug up, sewers built, and the road put back again. Alongside this work, the London Underground was also being built in the same way. His work survives to this day. Like the London Underground, it was the first of its kind and set the pattern for cities all over the world.

Which of the following is not a word used for the 'littlest room'?

swamp. 'Head' is the term used in by a ship's crew, while 'john' is a popular term used in the United States, and 'bog' is short for 'bottom of the garden', which was where the toilet was placed in times past. There are scores of names for the 'littlest room', and each one has its own history. These include: dunny, head, WC, toilet, bathroom, bog, john, outhouse, closet, and 'littlest room'.