The United Nations has always laid a lot of emphasis on improving the quality of life around the world, and hygiene standards have always posed a lot of challenges, especially in underdeveloped and developing countries. On November 19, 2001, the World Toilet Organization was founded, and a global Toilet Summit was held to draw the attention of the mankind towards the growing challenge of the sanitation crisis. It aimed to bring the governments, private sector and the NGOs on the same page to fight this menace. It is believed that 1 in 3 people still does not have access to clean toilets which is a shame considering we are living in 2020, and there has been tremendous growth in living standards. World Toilet Day focuses on the urgent need to come up with plans to protect the vulnerable population. World Toilet Day 2020: From Dagobert Toilet Throne to Hang Fung Gold Toilet, Check Out World’s Most Luxurious Toilets.

On World Toilet Day, we come up with some facts about Toilets.

  1. The first flushable toilet was invented by Arthur Giblin. However, the first modern flushable toilet is believed to have been described in 1596 by Sir John Harington, an English courtier and the godson of Queen Elizabeth I.

  2. King George II of Britain died by falling off a toilet back in 1760. It is believed more than 40,000 Americans get injured in toilets every year.

  3. One of the main reasons for kidney and bladder diseases is suppressed urination due to unclean toilets.

  4. About one billion people around the world defecate in the open and contribute directly or indirectly to the spread of several diseases.

  5. China has made special public toilets for dogs.

  6. The most expensive toilet is the one fitted at the International Space Station built at a whopping 19 million dollars.

  7. A toilet is a reason for the argument for 70 % of couples in the United Kingdom.

  8. Only 5 % of the population wash their hands for more than 15 seconds post using a toilet.

  9. About 20 % of the population do not wash their hands' post using a toilet.

  10. A person visits toilet more than 2500 times in a single year.

  11. Knossos in Greece has the world's oldest toilet, and it is still functional. It is 4000 years old.

Building toilets is the need of the hours. The more interest the governments show towards this cause, the better is the future of the nation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 19, 2020 01:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).