What are the really great inventions? Not the electronic gadgets we see invented daily. Nothing of today beats road paving. Same for central heating, same for refrigeration.
And don’t forget the bathroom. We’ll take that over a cell phone anytime. The cell phone has not been invented that can comfort like a warm bath.
When Victoria became queen in 1837, Buckingham Palace had no bathroom. That changed and in 1882 Eardley Bailey Denton commented:
It is now generally acknowledged that a dwelling cannot be considered as complete without a bathroom, and that its adoption should not be limited to the superior mansions of the wealthy, but that all classes of our population should . . . benefit by the comfort, cleanliness and healthfulness afforded by both hot and cold baths.
(Quoted from page 117 of Water, by Veronica Strang. Reaktion Books, 2015.)
Eardley Bailey Denton was a 19th century expert on sewage purification.
For a brief biography of Veronica Strang, click here. For images of or relating Veronica Strang, click here.
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