Taken on the Seattle Underground Tour, which goes through the sidewalks ~10 feet under the normal sidewalks where the city's street level used to be. The modern flush toilet was invented by a man called Thomas A. Crapper, hence our slang word for the toilet. The toilet was placed on a raised platform to keep the sewage from coming up the toilet with the tides every day, a problem that was fixed when the city's streets were raised to their current height.