Before there were toilets, there was "open defecation," which is exactly what it sounds like.
The first "toilets" were just giant holes in the ground.
Eventually, someone realized funneling waste into rivers was healthier than having it stew in a giant pit.
The first indoor toilets were used by royalty.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world continued shitting into pots and dumping it outside their homes.
And that's how things remained—more or less—for hundreds of years.
Still, flush toilets only became popular in the mid-1800s thanks to this man:
Today, there are many different types of flush toilets in the world. Like the standard seat toilet:
In conclusion, without toilets, life would be messy and a lot more people would be dead.
