Flush Toilet

Hello there. Gurgle, gurgle. Can you hear me? I’m the Flush Toilet. It’s so nice to meet you. Long, long ago, before I came along, getting rid of yucky stuff from people's homes was a very smelly and messy job. People used pots or dug holes outside, and it wasn't very clean or healthy. I worried that things would be stinky forever. But then, an idea started bubbling up, an idea for a cleaner, fresher world. I was created to help make homes much nicer to live in with a simple push of a handle and a great big whoosh. I said, ‘I can make things much less smelly.’.

My story begins a very long time ago. My very first ancestor, a fancy version of me, was dreamed up way back in 1596. A clever man named Sir John Harington built me for a very important person, Queen Elizabeth I. I felt so proud to be in a royal palace. But I had a little problem. Smelly air could travel back up my pipes. Gurgle. It took a while, but then a brilliant inventor named Alexander Cumming came along. On May 26th, 1775, he gave me a super important new part. It was a special curvy pipe, like a little water slide inside of me, called an S-bend. This special bend was a game-changer because it always held a little bit of clean water. That water acted like a plug to block all the stinky sewer smells from coming back into the bathroom. Hooray.

After my S-bend was invented, I really started to make a splash in the world. At first, only fancy houses had a toilet like me, but soon, more people wanted a clean and tidy bathroom. A man named Thomas Crapper was very good at showing people how wonderful I was. He didn't invent me, but he made showrooms with me in them so everyone could see how well I worked. People saw how I could wash away all the yucky stuff and the germs with one big flush. This was so important. As I started appearing in more and more homes, whole cities became healthier and cleaner. I was a superhero for health, washing germs away to a safe place and helping to stop sickness from spreading.

Today, I am still one of the most important helpers in your home. You can find me and my cousins in houses, schools, and buildings all over the world. My newer family members are even learning how to be better for the planet by using less water with each flush. I am so proud that I get to help keep you and your family healthy, safe, and comfortable every single day. Just push my handle, and with a mighty WHOOSH, I’ll get to work. It’s what I do best.