The Crappy, Commodious History of Toilets

The Crappy, Commodious History of Toilets

Up next

A Ridiculous Love Letter to Atari, Part One: From Pings to Pongs

Nowadays most people either play video games, or know someone who does -- yet this wasn't always the case. As civilization skyrockets toward gaming experiences that feel increasingly immersive (and, in some cases, inseperable from reality), Ben, Noel and Max pay homage to the cre ...  Show more

CLASSIC: How Admiral Horatio Nelson Ended Up Dead in a Barrel of Brandy

Naval legend Admiral Nelson died on October 21st, 1805 shortly after being shot by a French sniper while standing on the deck his ship, Victory. Following the British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, the survivors of the conflict were left with a dilemma -- how could they pres ...  Show more

Recommended Episodes

Toilet, Part 1
Invention

While the toilet is not THE most important invention, it's certainly hard to imagine life without one -- and the advantages of modern flushing toilets go far beyond mere convivence. In this Invention two-parter, Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick explore the ancient origins of the toi ...  Show more

SYSK Selects: How Porta-Potties Work
Stuff You Should Know

Despite our lengthy history of evacuating our bowels and bladders, it wasn’t until the relatively recent 1940s that we began to construct portable, self-contained toilets to accept our waste. Dive into the world of porta-potties in this classic episode.

Learn more ...  Show more

Toilet
Discovery

You may call it the toilet, the loo, the privy, the potty, the can or even the bathroom, but whatever you call it, this everyday object has its roots in Bronze Age Pakistan. It even had a seat!But how did the toilet come to be? Given one third of the world’s population still live ...  Show more

Bursting the Bath Time Bubble
Margins of Error

There’s been a lot of debate about how often we need to bathe — and the answer might be less than you think. It turns out we have a complicated history with washing dating back to the baths of Ancient Rome. Harry goes straight to the experts to decode the hygienic necessity of ba ...  Show more