Fun and interesting facts about plumbing
- The origin word for plumbing is plumbum. In Latin it translates to lead. This is also the reason lead is abbreviated as Pb on the periodic table.
- Sir John Harrington invented the first flushing toilet in 1596. Sir John of Kelston, only constructed two of these toilets. One for himself and one for his godmother, Queen Elizabeth I. It was a two foot oval, waterproofed with resin and wax, fed by water from an upstairs cistern.
- King George II died while on the toilet. Being overweight and unhealthy, he suffered a heart attack while using the restroom.
- Thomas Crapper was the first to market the flushing toilet to the public. He also invented the ballcock and held nine patents for updating various flushing components.
- In the 1800’s, wooden pipes were used in areas like Boston and Montreal. These wooden pipes were hollowed out logs that were tapered on the ends.
- In November of 1954, Albert Einstein was made an honorary member of The Plumbers and Steamfitters Union, after stating if he could live his life all over, he’d have been a plumber.
- Ozzy Osborne of Black Sabbath, was a plumbers apprentice prior to pursuing his music career.
- The Super Mario Bros, Mario and Luigi, were plumbers. In the original story line they were checking the local sewer lines when crabs and shell creepers took over. The plumbing scenario also tied in nicely with the discovery of Mushroom World, in which they were sucked down into a secret warp zone while unclogging a drain.