Did Monkeys Invent The Monkey Wrench?
Not quite. Actually, a Mr. Charles Moncky invented the monkey wrench around 1858.
Pipe Wrench
As long as we're on the subject of wrenches...
On September 13, 1870, a patent was granted to Daniel C. Stillson, a steamboat fireman, for a "wrench". Stillson invented the pipe wrench - often referred to as the Stillson wrench. Stillson had approached the heating and piping firm Walworth to manufacture a design for a wrench that could be used for screwing pipes together. Previously, serrated blacksmith tongs had been used for that purpose. The owner, James Walworth told Stillson to make a prototype and “either twist off the pipe or break the wrench.” Stilson's prototype twisted the pipe successfully. His design was patented and Walworth manufactured the wrench. Stillson was paid about $80,000 in royalties during his lifetime.
Why Do They Call It Plumbing?
To answer this, we have to go back to the Roman Empire. The glory of the Roman legions lay not only
in the roads they built and the system of law and order they provided. It was their engineering
genius and the skill of their craftsmen that enabled them to erect great baths and recreation centers,
the water supplied by aqueducts from sources miles away.
Early pipe and conduit was made from wood or earthenware. Later refinement to the use of lead to fashion pipes and conduit made skilled workers in lead indispensable. The Latin term "plumbus" means "lead".
The plumber was a worker in lead who, in today's connotation, repairs or fits the apparatus of water distribution in and to a building. The Roman artisan plumbed pipe, soldered, installed and repaired; he worked on roofs and gutters, down to sewers and drains; in essence, everything involving supply and waste. In fact, this general job description of plumbers' work lasted into the 20th century.
Spartan Bathtubs
Hot and cold water systems were already developed by the ancient Greeks, but to the stalwart, individualistic
Spartan, it was unmanly to use hot water. His idea of the bath tub was a polished marble bowl about 30" in height.
He would stand in the tub, and have a slave douse him with water over his head and his body. The sole purpose was
a quick, functional, cold rinse... the colder, the better! Thus Grecian bath houses never developed hot water
systems as extensively as the Romans.
Baths Fit For An Emperor
The baths of the Roman Emperor Caracalla covered nearly a 28 acre site, and contained more than 1,600 marble seats.
However, it still fell short of the baths of Diocletian, which seated over 3,000.
Gibbons, in the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, reported "Stupendous aqueducts replenished the Thermae, or baths, constructed with Imperial magnificence...walls covered with mosaics; perpetual streams of hot water poured into capacious basins through so many wide mouths of bright and massy silver."
Miles from the source of supply, water flowed through a series of aqueducts, streaming by gravity along the contours of land. The longest overhead section was about 14 miles long, but by 52 A.D., channeling covered a total of 220 miles, all but 30 miles underground. At its peak development, aqueducts carried about 300 gallons of water for every citizen of Rome.
A typical Roman bath complex housed a succession of baths, with many entrances for easy access. Surrounding the complex on at least three sides were houses and shops. Warm air for the Thermae bath was supplied by furnaces heating hollow bricks located under the entire floor. As the name suggests, the Frigidarium was the cold water bath; it fed the hot water tanks and other baths. The Tepidarium contained baths of moderate heat, and the Caldarium the hottest. (and you thought Hot Tubs were a 20th century invention!)
There was also a separate steam bath, and a small circular chamber covered by a high dome. An opening in the center of the dome provided light; it also vented the chamber. As a rudimentary way of regulating the heat, the vent could be raised or lowered.
Legend has it that the modern flushing toilet was invented by Thomas Crapper of London in the late 19th century. Believe it or not, a debate over this has been raging for very nearly 100 years. However, if we look at history, we find the argument to be something of a moot point.
Close to 4,000 years ago, about 1700 B.C., the Minoan Palace of Knossos on the isle of Crete featured four separate drainage systems that emptied into the great sewers constructed of stone. Terra cotta pipe was laid beneath the palace floor, hidden from view. Each section was about 2 1/2' long, slightly tapered at one end, and nearly 1" in diameter. It provided water for fountains and faucets of marble, gold and silver that jetted hot and cold running water.
Harbored in the palace latrine was the world's first flushing "water closet" or toilet. It had a wooden seat and a small reservoir of water. The device, however, was lost for thousands of years amid the rubble of flood and decay. Not until the 16th Century would Sir John Harington invent a "washout" closet anew, similar in principle. And it would take still another 200 years before another Englishman would patent the forerunner of the toilet used today.