Tue 15 Jul 2014 04.48 EDT Last modified on Thu 29 Nov 2018 06.20 EST
This ancient Egyptian toilet bowl has been dated to the New Kingdom, between 1600-1100 BC and would have been used like a latter-day chamber pot. But archaeologists have also found toilet systems which were flushed by hand with water in the Egyptian palaces. Photograph: Science Photo Library Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
The Cloaca Maxima, the large sewage system that the Romans built through the heart of their capital, was the first of its kind, and in an odd tribute to that extraordinary people, is still functioning today (as is its equivalent in York). The Romans built collective toilets, similar to the one above. Photograph: Roger Wood/Corbis Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Islamic hammams evolved from Roman roots. The idea of Turkish baths was brought to Victorian Britain and rapidly caught on. Photograph: Getty Images Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Few countries were as advanced as the Romans, however. In Britain, chamber pots were emptied on to muck heaps, streets or into rivers for centuries. But the toilet – like the one above – could be a means to power – the 'groom of the stool' had unparalled access to the King. Photograph: Royal Collection Trust/Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2014 Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Friedrich Engels described a 19th-century slum: "There stands directly at the entrance ... a privy without a door, so dirty that the inhabitants can pass in and out of the court only by passing through foul pools of stagnant urine and excrement." The picture above shows a New York tenement. Photograph: Lewis Wickes Hine/Everett Collection/Rex Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Meanwhile the rich were discovering the joys of spending exorbitant amounts on decorating their bathrooms. At Upton House, created in the late 1920s by Morley Horder for the wife of the second Lord Bearstead, the bathroom had a vaulted ceiling covered in aluminium leaf, and red lacquer pillars. Photograph: Andreas von Einsiedel/Corbis Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
In Japan, as in many countries around the world, few people had access to running water in their homes until well into the 20th century. Today, one in nine still lacks access to an improved water facility. Photograph: akg-images/Coll. B. Garrett Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
In some countries toilet facilities were racially segregated. In this image, taken in 1943 in the US, two toilet huts are labelled 'white' and 'colored'. Photograph: akg-images Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Photographer and model Lee Miller entered Munich with the GIs, discovered the apartment of Adolf Hitler, and persuaded one of her companions to photograph her naked in Hitler's bath. Photograph: David E Scherman/Time and Life Picture/Getty Images Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Architects such as Le Corbusier also wanted to make their own statements. In the Villa Savoye (its bathroom seen here with its open end to the window), it is thought that the flat 'bed' beside the none-too-comfortable looking bath was inspired by Turkish baths that Le Corbusier had seen on his travels. Photograph: Collection Artedia/View Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
There are more than 1,000 toilets in this free-of-charge public restroom in Chongqing, China. A return to the communal toilet? Photograph: AP Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
The toilet of the future? This was built for the Russian Mir space station. Practical, but slightly unsettling. Photograph: Science Photo Library Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
