Before Toilet Paper, People Used THIS

Toilet paper is less than 200 years old. So what did people use before it? Leaves and moss, Greek pottery shards, the Roman sponge on a stick, water, the first Chinese toilet paper, sailors' rope, corncobs, the Farmer's Almanac, and 'splinter-free' paper. A quick, clean (mostly) history of wiping. ⏱ Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:19 Nature 0:33 Ancient Greece 0:51 Roman public toilets 1:07 The sponge on a stick 1:24 Water 1:42 Paper in China 2:02 The emperor's toilet paper 2:21 Sailors 2:37 Corncobs 2:53 Catalogs and almanacs 3:10 The first toilet paper (1857) 3:32 Rolls 3:49 Splinter-free! 4:07 Today 📚 Further reading • Joseph Gayetty's medicated paper (1857) • Yan Zhitui, "Family Instructions for the Yan Clan" (6th century) • Ming dynasty court records on toilet paper (1393) • Roman latrines and the tersorium (Ostia, Ephesus) Illustrations, animation and music are original. Narration voice is AI-generated. #history #historyexplained #lifebeforenow