Around 1700BC, almost 4,000 years ago, the Minoan Palace on the isle of Crete utilized four separate drainage systems that were all designed to empty into the great sewers that had previously been constructed of stone. Terra cotta pipe had been strategically and methodically laid beneath the palace floor and all hidden from view. Each section of piping was just short of 3 feet long, slightly tapered at one end, and nearly an inch in diameter. This piping not only provided water for fountains and faucets of marble, gold and silver that jetted hot and cold running water but also furnished the world first flushing toilet.

Set deep within the palace’s latrine was the world's first flushing "water closet" as it was then known – what we now know today as a toilet. It had a wooden seat and a small reservoir of water that was set in the bowl. However despite its convenience the “water closet” was then lost for thousands of years amid the rubble of flooding and it wasn’t until the 16th Century when Sir John Harrington invented a "washout" closet that a similar concept re-emerged. Even so, it still took another 200 years before another Englishman, Alexander Cumming, would patent the forerunner of the toilet as we know it today. Doulton, Wedgwood, Shanks, and other companies would soon begin production of the device.

In its earliest iterations, toilet seats were only ever made of wood. Some decades later came bakelite, and then after that different kinds of plastic. It is the plastic which has dominated in recent times although for decorative purposes antique replica wooden seats for toilets are available on the market. Plastic has been found to be far more hygienic as it does not retain the same level of bacteria that wood and bakelite do. It is far easier to clean and also easier and cheaper to replace if there is damage or breakage.

And of course toilets are not simply toilets anymore. Technology has arrived. Toilets now offer a host of options including automatic flushing, heated seats and bidet functions. You can even get one with a remote control now. You can get a toilet seat with electronic water pressure control, heated streams of water (to wash you with) and an automatic shutoff should you the toilet begin spurting water everywhere due to a malfunction.