this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2024

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Origin of the modern flushable toilet (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

33 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The first modern flushable toilet was invented in 1596 by Sir John Harrington who installed one for his godmother, Elizabeth I.

Occasionally, some brave knights would conduct sneak attacks by entering the castle via the shaft connected to the garderobe. Throughout history, there have been a number of famous people who died on the toilet. Several of them were stabbed from below while in the process of defecating.

These people include King Edmund II of England (30 November 1016), Jaromír Duke of Bohemia (4 November 1035), Godfrey IV Duke of Lower Lorraine (circa. 26-27 February 1076), Wenceslaus III of Bohemia (4 August 1306) and Uesugi Kenshin (19 April 1578).

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[–] stoy 47 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I am not sure I agree with people calling this kind of toilet flushable....

[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago (2 children)

It’s not:

In 1596 Sir John Harington…[described] a forerunner to the modern flush toilet installed at his house at Kelston in Somerset. The design had a flush valve to let water out of the tank, and a wash-down design to empty the bowl. He installed one for his godmother Queen Elizabeth I at Richmond Palace.

Pictured in the OP are garderobes. Inside view’s something like:

[–] stoy 5 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Interestingly "garderob" is the Swedish word for closet

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Might be a germanic word that developed different meanings over time

[–] stoy 1 points 10 months ago

Quite possible

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Nah it's French, "garde robe" means "clothes[ancient french] holder[literally guard]". So literally just wardrobe.

Interesting that it became a loan word in Swedish tho, what a mindfuck. Dunno why the English borrowed it to describe toilets... I guess it does kinda look like a closet...?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

I know it's not necessarily an unknown fact but he's an ancestors of Kid Harington, aka John Snow from Game of Thrones

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

No need to flush, all you need is a weekly peasant with a shovel. Very ecological!

[–] [email protected] 35 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Getting poked to death when taking a dump...

That has to be close to the top of sorryful ways to die.

Imagine the epitaph.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago

Edmund II died that way.

Horrible Histories has a "Stupid Deaths" about it.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The poo stains never really went away.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago

That stone had seen things.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This was interesting to read on the toilet.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

I'm glad you didn't get stabbed

[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago

[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Now this is shitposting

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Notice that section of the wall is slightly discolored from the part to the right? You’re welcome.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Can't see it

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (2 children)

If they were to design that so the waste fell into the moat then it seems like a great design.

Just don't drink out of the moat.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

In some cases they had serves who's job it was to clean the area under the pooper

Human waste can also be used in tanning leather so it might have been reused for that

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Fish pond toilets and pig toilets are still a thing in some parts of India

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Do the poops bounce down Plinko style? Did the poor people stand underneath?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If your poop bounces, you need to reconsider your diet.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

I swallow a lot of chewing gum.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

It was a pain in the winters since it was incredibly cold to use it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

Anyone else feel a draft?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Don't forget Ehud, the immensely fat guy from the Bible who was stabbed while taking a dumb.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

I frequently take a dumb.

[+] [email protected] -18 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Man, if GoT hadn't ended on a such a shitty season, this would still be common knowledge.

But if you're young enough that you didn't watch the early seasons while the hype was up, it's very unlikely you started after it finished.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yeah the early seasons were full of scenes of poop falling from castles. Close-ups of people pooping left and right. Really added to the plot.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

There was a pretty notable scene...

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

You don’t need to be young to have not wanted to watch. I’m glad I never watched past the first thirty minutes of the first episode. Saved me a lot of time down the line.