By Claire Suddath Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 An infant girl sits on
a large ceramic pot while toilet training. Hulton Archive /
Getty In case you didn't know (and honestly, why would you?),
Nov. 19 is World Toilet Day — an event hosted by the World
Toilet Organization to raise awareness for the 2.5 billion
people around the world who live without proper sanitation. But
even for those of us with access to modern plumbing, how often
do we really think about our toilets? From outhouses to water
closets — even former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain's $35,000
"commode on legs" (technically a table, not a toilet) — humans
have been devising creative ways to go to the bathroom since,
well, since the first person crossed his legs with an urgent
need to go. It's unclear who first invented the toilet: early
contenders for the honor are the Scots and the Greeks. Skara
Brae, a Neolithic settlement on the Scottish mainland dating
back to 3,000 B.C., features stone huts equipped with drains
extending from recesses in their walls