The flushing toilet, in the form that leads to the modern WC, is generally credited to Sir John Harington in 1596, with a crucial later patent by Alexander Cumming in 1775.

Quick Scoop

So who “invented” the flushing toilet?

If you ask most historians who invented the flushing toilet, they’ll point to:

  • Sir John Harington (often spelled Harrington), an Elizabethan courtier, as the inventor of the first real water-flushing “water closet” in 1596.
  • Alexander Cumming, an 18th‑century watchmaker, as the man who patented the first practical flush toilet design with a water-seal trap in 1775.

In other words:

  • Harington = first recognizable flush toilet (concept and working device).
  • Cumming = first practical, patented version that solved the smell problem with an S‑shaped trap.

How Harington’s toilet worked

In 1596, Harington designed a “water closet” for himself and for his godmother, Queen Elizabeth I.

Key features:

  • A bowl with a wooden seat.
  • A raised cistern (tank) of water above it.
  • A pipe leading down so water could be released to wash waste away.
  • A pull‑cord or lever that dumped a cistern-full of water to flush.

He even wrote about it in his satirical work “A New Discourse of the Metamorphosis of Ajax,” which described the mechanism and helped cement his reputation as the “father of the flush toilet.”

However:

  • The design lacked a proper S‑bend or U‑bend water seal, so smells could still drift back from the sewer.
  • The idea was largely ignored for almost 200 years and didn’t spread widely in everyday homes.

Cumming’s crucial upgrade

In 1775, Alexander Cumming received the first patent for a flushing toilet.

His improvements:

  • Introduced an S‑shaped section of pipe (the S‑trap) under the bowl that kept a standing pool of water and blocked sewer gases from entering rooms.
  • Refined the bowl shape and flush mechanism to make the system more reliable.
  • This water-seal trap is the direct ancestor of the S‑bend and P‑trap still used in toilets and sinks today.

Because of that water seal, Cumming’s design is often seen as the first truly practical flushing toilet suitable for wider adoption.

What about Thomas Crapper and others?

You might have heard the name Thomas Crapper and assumed he invented the flushing toilet—but he didn’t.

Instead, he:

  • Was a 19th‑century plumber and sanitary engineer.
  • Popularized high‑quality bathroom fixtures.
  • Patented improvements such as a refined U‑bend and floating ballcock valve, making toilets and lavatories more reliable and user‑friendly.

There were also many other contributors:

  • Samuel Prosser’s “plunger closet” (1777).
  • Thomas Twyford’s one‑piece ceramic toilets in the 1880s.
  • Various inventors of siphon systems, quiet flush valves, and vortex-flushing bowls in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

These names matter if you’re looking at the broader evolution of modern bathroom technology rather than a single “eureka moment.”

Long story short

If your exam, quiz, or trivia card asks “who invented the flushing toilet?” the safest historically grounded answer is:

  • Sir John Harington, inventor of the first flush toilet (water closet) in 1596.

If the question is about the modern, practical flush toilet mechanism with a water seal, you can add:

  • Alexander Cumming, who patented the first practical flushing toilet with an S‑trap in 1775.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.