1596 – First modernvalve water-closet

Modern toilet design began in 1596, when Sir John Harington invented a device for Queen Elizabeth (his Godmother) that released wastes into cesspools. Harington invented two elements of the modern toilet: a valve at the bottom of the water tank, and a wash-down system. In 1596, Harington wrote a book called A New Discourse upon…

1273 – First smoke abatement law

Actually, however, recorded agitation about smoke began in England. In 1257 when Queen Eleanor moved from Nottingham to Tutbury Castle. As recounted, she told her husband, King Henry III, she could no longer stand the “unendurable smoke of the sea coal.” Translated, that means she couldn’t stand the neighbors’ burning bituminous coal. As a result…