Toilet Non-Humor Trivia Quiz

Answer: Yes

According to the International Thomas Crapper Society, there was indeed a person by the name of Thomas Crapper, who did indeed work as a plumber, and who actually held a number of plumbing-related patents. He lived from 1836 until 1910, and worked as a plumber in England from 1861 until 1904, or should I say 'sanitary engineer'. He established the company Thomas Crapper and Son, and the company (in the son's generation) earned the right to display the royal warrant, 'By appointment to H.M. King George V, sanitary engineer'.

Of the nine patents that Thomas Crapper held, four had to do with drain improvements, three of them were in regards to water closets, one was about manhole covers, and one was on pipe joints.

Answer: The floor

For a surface to be considered sanitary, it must be at no more than 1,000 bacteria per square inch or less. In his testing, the toilet seat passed. One's hands are much more bacterially contaminated (in general) than one's toilet seat.

Another example of the misconception of what people consider germy (from Dr. Gerba's 2004 Germ Survey Report http://uanews.org/pdfs/germsurvey.pdf):

"For example, the greatest proportion of respondents (34%) think that a Port-o-Potty has the most germs among a list of items commonly found out in public, which is actually the least germy of the items presented. Only one in ten (9%) correctly identify that playground equipment is the germiest."

The survey in question listed the following items: playground equipment, escalator handrails, shopping cart handles, picnic tables, amusement park turnstiles, and port-o-potties.

Answer: Minoan

A well-organized drainage system was found in the Minoan city of Knossos, including lavatories, sinks, pipes and stone drainage channels. The toilets were not simply holes allowing waste to fall into a water system, but they had a flushing system. This used water held in cisterns that then flowed through conduits built into the wall.

The Minoan pipe system for removing waste was sophisticated for its time, with burnt-clay pipes well fitted at joins and buried below the surface. Of course, the naturally steep landscape made all this gravity-based drainage possible.

Answer: Vespasian

Public urinals in Rome would be emptied into cesspools where it was then made available to businesses that had use of it (for such things as tanning, or as an ammonia source for cleaning togas). Vespasian imposed a tax on the purchase of urine from the cesspools.

The origin of the Latin phrase 'pecunia non olet' (money does not stink) stems from this tax. When Vespasian's son Titus complained of the odious nature of the tax, his father asked him whether or not a gold coin had a bad odor. When Titus agreed that it did not, Vespasian retorted, "atqui ex lotio est," or "yet it comes from urine."

In France, public urinals carry the name 'vespasiennes'; they are called 'vespasiani' in Italy, and in Romania they are known as 'vespasiene'.

Answer: Sir John Harington

Of the incorrect choices, John Hadley (1682-1744) built the first reflecting telescope, Samuel Fox (1815-1887) invented the steel-ribbed umbrella, and Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) was a leading British chemist who, through the use of electrolysis, discovered a number of new metals, such as potassium, barium, strontium, magnesium, calcium, and sodium.

Sir John Harington (1561-1612) was a writer and courtier in Queen Elizabeth I's court, and he became known as her 'saucy godson'. He was one of many children that Elizabeth accepted as her godchildren, a total of 102, in fact. The 'saucy' moniker came as a result of his satirical writings, which had the added consequence of causing him to fall in and out of favour at court.

Answer: Watchmaker

Cummings (1733-1814) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland but worked on Bond Street in London. Not only did he work as a watchmaker, but he was also a mathematician and mechanic, writing books not only about the mechanical processes of clocks and watches, but also about the effect that carriage wheel rims had on roadways, as well subjects like gravity.

Answer: Toilet paper

Not that paper had never been used before to wipe, but rather that Gayetty marketed the first toilet paper designed just for that purpose, and made it commercially available. It was called 'Gayetty's Medicated Paper' and was sold in packages of 500 flat sheets, each bearing a watermark of Gayetty's name. The paper was also made with aloe and was marketed as an anti-hemorrhoid product.

Answer: Victoria of England

Thomas William Twyford (1849-1921) was a British pottery manufacturor. He is credited with inventing the one-piece ceramic toilet.

Thomas' ancestor Joshua Twyford started a commercial pottery business in the late 17th century. In 1872, Thomas William took over the family business from his father (also named Thomas). Already a successfully large business, Thomas William's successful invention of the one-piece ceramic toilet system he called the 'Unitas' kept the company successful. Twyford's pioneering work in the field of hygiene and sanitation caused him to become known as 'The Father of British Bathrooms'.

Answer: 2,500

*Statistics from worldtoilet.org*

If you take the suggested statistic that an average person visits the loo six to eight times a day, then it works out to roughly 2,500 visits per year. Over the average lifespan, that would translate into roughly three years of your life spent with your toilet.

Answer: 2001

World Toilet Day was established by the World Toilet Organization for the reason (as mentioned in the question) of vast numbers of people in the world living without proper sanitary conditions. As of W.T.D (Nov. 19) 2011, the statistic given was 2.6 billion people worldwide without proper sanitation.

In addition to various suggested activities that you can do to observe the day (for example, write a love note to your loved one on toilet paper), the 2011 edition of W.T.D also held 'The Golden Poo Awards'; a stand-up comedy competition.