In 1848, the government decreed that every new house should have a water-closet (WC) or ash-pit privy.
Most Americans of the 19th century did not have a dedicated bathroom and used an outhouse or outdoor privies. They were called “necessary houses” or “houses of office” by some. The original outhouse remains on the grounds of Cape May's 1879 Physick Estate.
"Crapper" was already in use as a coarse name for a toilet, but it gained currency from the work of Thomas Crapper, who popularized flush toilets in England and held several patents on toilet improvements.
The WC - Still in use today, the abbreviation WC stems from the term “water closet” which is what we used to call toilets in the Victorian era.
Before the availability of mass produced toilet paper in the mid-1800s, humans had to resort to using what was free and available, even if it didn't provide the most effective (or comfortable) results. Options included rocks, leaves, grass, moss, animal fur, corn cobs, coconut husks, sticks, sand, and sea shells.
Corn cobs
Dried corn cobs were plentiful in rural agrarian societies throughout history. According to Farmers' Almanac, the corncob worked by turning on its axis to clean the region (you get the picture). Some outhouses in western US states still use this method.
Crapper. A rather more vulgar word for toilet is 'crapper'. First appearing in 1932, crapper became a popular alternative word for toilet thanks to the Thomas Crapper & Co Ltd company that manufactured toilets.
By the late 1880s, as indoor plumbing with water tanks and gas water heaters became more widely available, houses for the middle classes were built with bathrooms equipped with cast iron full-length baths. Victorian baths were usually regarded as furniture and tended to boxed in.
Lavatory. Lavatory has Latin origins, deriving from the word “lavare”. During the Medieval period, this evolved to “lavatorium” and finally to lavatory which is still used today, though not commonly and only in the most formal settings.
ladies' room. [also L- r-] a restroom or lavatory (sense 2) lavatory (sense 2a) for women.
'Washroom' is another formal word that most English speakers will understand. It is mostly used in the USA. 'Restroom' is a safe term to use in the United States and won't offend anyone. When traveling on motorways, signs may appear announcing “rest stops”.
The toilets displayed the company logo 'Thomas Crapper & Co Ltd'. The US soldiers stationed in England at the time started referring to the toilet as “the Crapper” and brought that slang term back with them to the United States. The slang word for toilet became more widely taken up and is still being used today.
On the Throne. A toilet in a castle was known as a garderobe. Located next to the master's bedchamber, the garderobe was private and convenient. Waste dropped directly into a cesspit or the castle's moat below.
Though even wealthy families did not take a full bath daily, they were not unclean. It was the custom for most people to wash themselves in the morning, usually a sponge bath with a large washbasin and a pitcher of water on their bedroom washstands. Women might have added perfume to the water.
Before throwing the waste out the window, they'd yell “Guardez l'eau!” The term “guardez l'eau” first came to English as “gardy-loo” and then shortened to “loo”, which eventually came to mean the toilet itself.
Sinks were installed first in bedrooms, as a replacement for the pitchers of water and basins that had previously been ferried in and out by servants. Bathtubs and toilets each got their own rooms—with toilets placed farther away from living spaces due to the smell.
One hot bath a week sufficed for most people. In the 1920s, the attitude toward cleanliness shifted significantly. Both body and clothes cleanliness became a standard requirement. As the new house appliances became more available and economical, cleanliness in the house also became a requirement.
The Roman world had both private and public toilets - latrinae were individual toilets (domestic or public), foricae (singular forica) were multi-seat, open concept facilities that were often found in public areas near water features, sewer lines, or balneae (Roman bathing facilities).
Powder room, commode
A less genteel Southern-ism for the bathroom is “commode.” While more widely it's used to refer to a ship's bathroom, in the South, it's just any toilet, land-bound or not.
Secondly but most notable amongst historians, John was the name of the first man credited with inventing the first flushing toilet. John Harington was born during the time in which Queen Elizabeth reigned. His mother was a member of the Queen's chamber.
The loo, the latrine, the lavatory — the nicknames for the porcelain throne are endless!
Bonobos rebuff banana slices that have been situated too close to scat; scientists have spotted mother chimps wiping the bottoms of their young. Kangaroos eschew patches of grass that have been freckled with feces.
In addition to providing us with biological info, Weiss says that "the lips are one of the most sensitive parts of the body, so kissing someone is a way to get to know them better." Because humans have a less strong sense of smell than many other species, kissing is also a way to get close to another person and find ...
The most dominant view among scientists is the so-called "body-cooling" hypothesis, also known as the "savannah" hypothesis. This points to a rising need for early humans to thermoregulate their bodies as a driver for fur loss.