You may not think that toilets have an interesting history…but you’d be WRONG!

And today we’re going to prove that by taking a deep dive into the history of toilets and we’ll see just how far they’ve evolved.

I mean, what would we do without them, right…?

Check out these 6 toilet facts and prepare to be impressed!

1. Going wayyyyyyy back.

Believe it or not, humans during the late Stone Age built primitive toilets 5,000 years ago that were discovered by archaeologists on Scotland’s Orkney Islands.

The draining canal was built from stone and connected to a house on one side and the sea on the other side.

Early flushing toilets first appeared in South Asia around 2500 BCE.

Impressive!

2. Go ahead and recycle that.

Human excrement was valued in pre-industrial Japan and China and was used by farmers as fertilizer to help feed growing populations.

Poop was collected in buckets by each household and was picked up every morning. The waste was then transported by cart to boats and transported to the countryside to farms where it was composted.

3. Let’s all thank him…

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, Thomas Crapper.

The British engineer lived from 1836 until 1910 and he improved on an earlier prototype and invented the ballcock, which prevented water from overflowing in a tank. This led to an improved toilet and Crapper even opened a toilet showroom in 1870 for customers to try out the merchandise.

Crapper even updated the plumbing in Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and Windsor Castle.

We all owe this man a great debt of gratitude…

4. Different varieties.

It’s hard to believe that in today’s day and age, not everyone uses flush toilets.

In rural areas and places where there is little or no sanitation infrastructure, people use dry toilets. These can be a basic hole in the ground or some other kind of hole that people squat over that may or may not be designed to be emptied.

A Port-a-Potty is an example of a dry toilet.

5. They can do what?!?!

We have smartphones, so why not smart toilets?!?!

Yes, there are toilets out there now that can do all kinds of wild things, such as seat warmers that take the chill out of sitting on a cold seat, models that play music, and one that will clean your backside, blowdry your behind, and then the toilets clean themselves.

This is the future!

6. That’s depressing…

And, to end on a sad note, almost 50% of the world’s population doesn’t have access to toilets and proper sanitation.

The CDC says that a mindboggling 3.6 billion people don’t have “safely managed sanitation” and 1.9 billion of those people only have basic services such as outhouses and latrines.

It’s hard to imagine life without a flushing toilet, so be thankful for what you have!