Thursday, March 31, 2016

All About The Toilet...!

No, I don't mean that my blog has gone down thew toilet, but that I have some interesting facts about said toilet for your consideration.

15 Fascinating Facts About Toilets

LISTVERSE STAFF JUNE 15, 2009

Toilets – we all use them but seldom like to talk about them. The flushing toilet was invented by Sir John Harrington in 1596 for Queen Elizabeth I. He was originally barred from the Royal Court for spreading smutty stories, but after his invention, he was allowed back. Having whet your appetite for fascinating toilet facts, let us look at 15 more.

1. The film “Psycho” was the first movie to show a toilet flushing – the scene caused an inpouring of complaints about indecency
2. Pomegranates studded with cloves were used as the first attempt at making toilet air-freshner
3. Hermann Goering refused to use regulation toilet paper – instead he bought soft white handkerchiefs in bulk and used them
4. Over $100,000 US dollars was spent on a study to determine whether most people put their toilet paper on the holder with the flap in front or behind; the answer: three out of four people have the flap in the front
5. King George II of Great Britain died falling off a toilet on the 25th of October 1760
6. The average person spends three whole years of their life sitting on the toilet
7. The first toilet cubicle in a row is the least used (and consequently cleanest)
8. An estimated 2.6 billion people worldwide do not have access to proper toilet facilities, particularly in rural areas of China and India.
 9. The Roman army didn’t have toilet paper so they used a water soaked sponge on the end of a stick instead!
10. The toilet is flushed more times during the super bowl halftime than at any time during the year. 11. 90% of pharmaceuticals taken by people are excreted through urination. Therefore our sewer systems contain heavy doses of drugs. A recent study by the EPA has found fish containing trace amounts of estrogen, cholesterol-lowering drugs, pain relievers, antibiotics, caffeine and even anti-depressants.
12. Lack of suitable toilets and sanitation kills approximately 1.8 million people a year, many of them children. 
13. The toilet handle in a public restroom can have up to 40,000 germs per square inch.
14. While he didn’t invent the toilet, Thomas Crapper perfected the siphon flush system we use today. He was born in the village of Thorne – which is an anagram of throne.
15. In a 1992 survey, British public toilets were voted the worst in the world. Following quickly behind were Thailand, Greece, and France.

I do hope you found this list interesting. If nothing else, it will give you some new reading material for the next trip to the...well, you know! I got this list from the staff over at the Listverse group.

Coffee out on the patio this morning. Temps back up to the 80s again.

9 comments:

Gorges Smythe said...

I guess that toilets would make a good trivia subject! lol

linda m said...

That is some interesting toilet trivia. Good reading material for my next trip. Here's another piece of info - low flush toilets don't use less water as they don't flush as efficiently and therefore a second flush is generally needed. At least this is true in my experience as I have a "low flush" toilet.

Sixbears said...

Being my own plumber and having a septic system, I know more about waste disposal than I want to know. Boat owners with heads know more about the dirty deed than they want to.

vwrobb@gmail.com said...

I saw a thing on toilet paper showing the original patent, the paper hung off the front.

I did see it on the internet....

Chickenmom said...

Going to print this out and leave it in the WC for Hubby to read!!

HermitJim said...

Hey Gorges...
No doubt! Pretty interesting history, that's for sure!
Thanks for stopping by!


Hey Linda...
That sounds about right. Just another "improvement" that really isn't.
Thanks for coming by today!


Hey Sixbears...
Nothing like the ol' first hand experience, right?
Thanks for the visit this morning!


Hey VWrobb...
Good place to find out about all sorts of interestring things!
Many thanks for coming over this morning!


Hey Phyllis...
I'm sure he will appreciate the new reading material.
Thanks for stopping by this morning!

JO said...

Fun facts about the well you know. Nice to read something funny in the morning.

Our temps are down again and it is 41 right now high for today 66. So your patio seems to be the better place.

Dizzy-Dick said...

How interesting that a fellow named Crapper had something to do with his namesake (grin).

HermitJim said...

Hey Jo...
Glad you enjoyed these little bits of information. I always aim to please, ya know.
Thanks for dropping by, sweetie!


Hey Dizzy...
I thought that was interesting as well. I always thought he invented it.
Thanks for stopping by this morning!