Do you feel like royalty? Well, there is the throne on which most of us sit every day.
Yes, it’s the toilet. The mantra here is: loo loo loo …
Here’s a list of amazing facts about the most sacred place in the house.
1. It is believed that a person spends from two months to three years of their life on
the toilet.
2. A smart toilet is developed in China that monitors your health. It scans the incoming
"samples" and reports on your smartphone if it detects any problems with your health.
3. One of the first sewage systems was constructed around 3000 BCE in India. People invented
a complex system of underground channels through which all waste got into the river.
4. India also has the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets in Delhi. Mention my name
and you’ll get a good seat.
5. The first ever flush toilet was probably invented by Sir John Harington at the end
of the 16th century in England. He was a poet and a courtier to Queen Elizabeth I.
6. The Hang Fung Gold Toilet is the most expensive toilet on Earth. It costs $5 million, and
it's made out of solid, 24-carat gold. It works, but nobody has ever used it.
7. But there is a toilet more expensive outside the Earth. The ISS has a toilet worth $19
million. You need to strap yourself to the seat to use it. Yeah, no gravity. A powerful
pump is installed inside the toilet. Also, this toilet can recycle waste into pure drinking
water. Okay I’ll trust you on that one.
8. The most expensive toilet paper in the world costs $1.3 million and it’s made from
22-carat gold. What’s all this stuff about gold and toilets?
9. November 19 is World Toilet Day. This day discusses hygiene and dysentery problems in
poor countries where there are no toilets.
10. In the mid-14th century China, there were about 700 thousand sheets of toilet paper
supplied to the Imperial Court every year. 11. There's blue lighting in some public toilets.
This is to ensure that people don't sit there for a long time. It is very difficult to read
in blue light.
12. Joseph C. Gayetty is credited as the inventor of modern commercially available toilet paper.
He produced it cut into flat sheets and packaged in bundles. He was so proud of his invention
that he printed his name on every sheet.
13. The first separate public toilets for women and men allegedly appeared in the 18th
century in Paris.
14. Japanese smart toilets have almost as many features as a modern computer or smartphone.
Here is what they’ve got: –Pleasant music
–Heating and blowing seats –A hose that automatically washes and dries
your... well, you understand. No toilet paper! –Automatic flushing
–Voice Assistant –Built-in air freshener and backlight.
Also, public toilets are installed everywhere in Japan, even in the forest!
15. Some countries have transparent public toilets. For example, in Switzerland, such
toilets are very popular. Don’t worry, they’re only transparent from inside, while from outside
you can't see anything.
16. On Earth, there are more people with mobile phones than with toilets in their homes. Think
about that.
17. There are several times more bacteria on our smartphones than on the toilet seats.
The same goes for any office desk.
18. There are no toilet seats in Italy's public toilets. People don’t want their bodies
to touch them, so they stand on their feet, breaking the seats eventually. But nobody
wants to buy new ones, because nobody wants to use them. Such toilets are also found in
France and Greece.
19. Still, such toilets are better than in Australia. In this country, almost every toilet
can become home for a snake. The arid climate and hunger force snakes to crawl into the
sewers to cool down and hunt rats.
20. Amsterdam has unusual public urinals. There are no cubicles — the things are just
there in the streets. Come up, don't be shy, and do your thing.
21. There's a myth that in Scotland you’re legally bound to let inside any stranger who
wants to use the bathroom. Of course, this is not true, but there is such a tradition.
22. There are toilets in Vietnam that are installed on the water.
23. There's a real deficiency of toilet paper in some countries. Find out which ones in
advance if you are going to visit them, and stock up before you go.
24. Little toilet life hack: choose the cubicle that is closest to the exit in the public
toilet. Such cubicles are used less often, which means they’re cleaner.
25. There’s a public toilet for dogs that is installed on the streets of a small Spanish
town.
26. About 70-75% of people on Earth don't use toilet paper.
27. Of those who use the stuff. the average person uses 100 rolls of toilet paper per
year. It's over 20,000 sheets.
28. Never throw toilet paper into the toilet in Mexico. Pipes there are very thin and fragile.
Wet paper can simply break them. But it doesn’t say here, what they do with it. Hmm.
29. There's a machine that turns office paper to toilet paper.
30. 27,000 trees are used to make toilet paper every day.
31. Toilet paper wedding dresses are becoming very popular. There is even a competition
among designers for the best dress. Interestingly, such dresses are as beautiful as dresses made
of fabric.
32. There are toilets in supermarkets in Finland. They’re located next to the cashier desk.
33. You can buy green, pink, yellow, purple and even black toilet paper. But the coolest
paper glows in the dark.
34. Pomegranates and cloves can be used to create a pleasant smell in the toilet instead
of an air freshener.
35. The oldest toilet is about 240 million years old. I wasn’t around then However,
it was not used by humans, but by dinosaurs.
36. The "Psycho" movie by Alfred Hitchcock became the first to show a scene with flushing
of a toilet. Many complained of obscenity of this scene. I guess they apparently forgot
about the poor lady in the shower next to the toilet. And didn’t she have a bad day!
37. The first toilet brushes were made from the hair of squirrels, oxen, and horses. Modern
brushes were created according to the same principle as artificial Christmas trees.
38. There is a restaurant in Taiwan that follows a bathroom theme. Tables have sinks under
the glass, and chairs are in the shape of commodes. The food is delicious, though, if
you dare eat it.
39. There are books written to read them while sitting on the toilet. I have an entire collection
of those.
40. About 15-30% of people don’t wash their hands after using the toilet. And we have
a list of their names…. Not really, but c’mon, let’s do the right thing.
41. It's more beneficial for the body to squat on the toilet.
42. Most toilets are made of porcelain. And this material is much better protected from
bacteria than the plastic toilet seats.
43. There is a theory that 1/3 of Americans flush water while sitting on the toilet.
44. Doctors don't advise sitting on the toilet for a long time and looking at the phone as
it’s bad for your health. 3-7 minutes is the best time.
45. It's advised that the toilet should be replaced every 50 years.
46. If you went to the toilet in Singapore and didn't flush, you would face a fine of
$ 150.
47.The difference between an ordinary toilet and a dry closet is that waste is flushed
into the piping in a conventional toilet. It enters the sewers through pipes and then
goes into rivers, seas, and oceans.
Dry closet doesn't wash away waste. There is a special compartment with natural biochemical
substances inside the dry closet. It decomposes about 80% of waste using these substances.
The remaining 20% can be safely poured into the pit and used as fertilizer.
48. The first portable toilets were invented in the 1940s for soldiers. However, those
were heavy and uncomfortable cubicles. A lightweight fiberglass toilet was created only in the
1970s.
49. People of some countries in Europe refuse to use toilet paper, as it's considered dirty
and not hygienic. Instead, they us a bidet — a small sink with a tap so you can wash.
50. In Ancient Rome, a sponge dipped in salt water was used instead of toilet paper. In
Europe, straw or pieces of cloth and wool were used. And the indigenous people of Hawaii
and the Philippines used coconut peel.
51. Toilets in Ancient Rome were very popular. It wasn't just a place to relieve yourself.
People came there to chat, tell the news, and discuss important matters. Only wealthy
citizens were visiting such an elite place. And so it goes.