How The Toilet Revolutionized History

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate This video was supported by Bill and Melinda Gates. You can check out the Gates Annual Letter here: http://b-gat.es/2lhhtmJ. ↓ More info and sources below ↓ We’re proud to collaborate with Bill and Melinda Gates for this week’s video! It may sometimes seem like things are getting worse, but there’s lots of reasons to be optimistic about the future. More people have access to toilets and sanitation than ever before. Thanks to public health improvements like this, since 1990, 122 million children’s lives have been saved. Diseases like polio are nearing eradication. Women have more access to health care and education than ever before. But our work is not done. How can YOU help make the future better for the world’s poorest? SPECIAL THANKS: Bill and Melinda Gates Francisco de los Reyes (watch his TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/francis_de_los_reyes_sanitation_is_a_basic_human_right#t-303612) ----------- LEARN MORE: George, Rose. “The Big Necessity: The unmentionable world of human waste and why it matters.” 2008. Perdew, Laura. “How the Toilet Changed History” 2016. Ferriman, A. (2007). BMJ readers choose the “sanitary revolution” as greatest medical advance since 1840. BMJ : British Medical Journal, 334(7585), 111. http://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39097.611806.DB CDC Global WASH statistics: https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics.html WHO Toilet/Sanitation Fact Sheet: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs392/en/ WaterAid “We Can’t Wait”: http://www.wateraid.org/what-we-do/our-approach/research-and-publications/view-publication?id=a5ab0a96-1574-4225-a16a-75d5e5ec4232 Unilever “Toilets for Health” https://www.unilever.com/Images/sd_toilets-for-health-141113_tcm13-387337_tcm244-409783_1_en.pdf ----------- FOLLOW US: Merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter: @okaytobesmart @DrJoeHanson Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Instagram: @DrJoeHanson Snapchat: YoDrJoe ----------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Director: Joe Nicolosi Writer: Joe Hanson Editor/animator: Andrew Orsak Producer: Stephanie Noone and Amanda Fox Produced by PBS Digital Studios Music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices