There's nothing like a flush toilet. I can vouch for that. Ours pooped out twice in the past year due to the historic nature of our cracked clay sewer lateral---and it was no picnic. On the first occasion, we shared a port-a-potty in the back yard with our neighbors for a week. On the second, it was days before Christmas and we were shut off without warning. At the suggestion of a friend, I set up a trash bag system: lifted the toilet lid, lined the bowl with a black plastic trash bag, put the lid down and it was good to go. Both experiences gave me fresh appreciation for plumbers, plumbing, and the flush toilet.

Today is Thomas Crapper Day: anniversary of the death of a man widely considered to be the inventor of the flush toilet. While that, according to historians, is not to his credit, Thomas Crapper (England, 1836-1910) was a master plumber, holder of 9 plumbing-related patents, owner of a plumbing shop, and royal sanitary engineer for many members of English royalty, and that's hero enough for me.

The "Silent Valveless Water Waste Preventer" which enabled the first flush toilet was actually invented by one Albert Giblin who worked for Thomas Crapper for a time. It is said that Crapper bought the patent and marketed the toilets.

One thing we can attribute to Mr. Crapper without a doubt is a popular slang term for toilet. Just as toilets today are imprinted American Standard, Kohler, Toto, or the like, toilets sold by Thomas Crapper were imprinted with his name. When World War I soldiers passing through Europe used these facilities, they found the name fitting and coined the term "crapper" for toilet.

For more information, read Thomas Crapper: Myth and Reality at Plumbing & Mechanical magazine.