History of Inventions, a timeline from Pottery to Computers. In the past people had to go outside to outhouses etc.
Flush toilets are much more convenient.
But the very first flush toilet was invented by Sir John Harington in the 16th century for Queen Elizabeth in her palace at Richmond, Surrey. Although a Godson to the Queen herself, Sir Harington was a bit of a rebel and was banished twice by the Queen for translating or writing material that she found offensive including a description of the uses of a flush toilet. Harington's invention was seen as a joke to his English peers, so his toilet did not catch on in his lifetime. Two hundred years later, Alexander Cummings reinvented Harrington's water closet. Cummings invented the S-trap, a sliding valve between the bowl and the trap.