I am a historian, and I have a great admiration for the mens and women who by their hard work, have benefitted mankind. I know that our world would be a lot poorer if people like Edison, tesla, Ford and Salk had never lived. However, I am concerned that many important contributors have never gotten the fame they earned. One such person is Thomas Crapper-inventor of the flush toilet. Think what a vital innovation the toilet is-because of this man’s genius, we now have clean streets and sanitary cities. How come the name of Crapper isn’t as famous as Edison?
Because this is an urban legend, whereas Edison really DID invent things.
Cecil on Crapper:
I’m not sure what sort of historian you are, Ralph.
Not only have both Cecil and the Snopes folks debunked the “Thomas Crapper” business (as well as Otto Titzling’s supposed gift to humanity) but many others have, as well. The Cecil wanna-be <i>Imponderable</i> series even took a stab at this one and got it right.
- Rick
Another version I have heard has the name “John Crapper”, explaining two names for the ‘head’ at once
In my ‘World Book’ encyclopedia (which I now question) it says “Sir Thomas Crapper, an English plumber, made improvements on the flush toilet patented by (Joseph) Bramah.” (1989 ed. “Plumbing” p. 582 of the “P” volume)
Crapper was knighted for this? I doubt if many plumbers were ever knighted. Did Queen Victoria tap his sholder with a silver plunger as he knelt? He must have done some work on her throne to get such an honor.
I’m really sorry - please don’t ban me for bad taste.
Now Renaldus Columbus is a name we really should honor.
He’s the fellow credited with discovering the clitoris, right? Because he certainly wasn’t the first. Offhand, I’d say that honor would probably belong to Eve.
Flush toilets go back to the days of the Roman Empire and they never ran out of toilet paper either.
Not everyone thinks that the flush toilet was a great invention
The flush toilet is ecologically mindless by Sunita Narain, in the journal Down to Earth.
His position:
“The flush toilet and the sewage system — which I always believed embodied personal hygiene and environmental cleanliness — are a part of the environmental problem and not the solution.”
See also the sidebar where he compares ancient Rome against Edo in Japan: Rome dumped its human waste into the river. “On the other hand, Edo, which too was situated on several streams, ensured that all its human wastes were collected and returned to the farmlands. Its neighbouring rivers remained clean and it tapped its water from them through an extensive piped water supply.”
Interesting reading.
Cecil Adams on Did Renaldus Columbus discover the clitoris in 1559?