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עמוד:19
The Toilet Archaeology proves that all through the ancient world — from the Mediterranean to the Far East — there were toilets that people could sit on . These were basically holes in the ground that in some cases were cleaned with water . However , it wasn ' t until 1 596 that the first waterbased mechanical toilet was invented . Sir John Harrington designed the toilet for Queen Elizabeth I . He called his invention the "water closet " ( WC ) , but his invention was not taken seriously . In fact , only one or two were built . In 1775 , Alexander Cummings , an Englishman , redesigned the water-based toilet . He put something in the pipe that stopped smells from coming back into the toilet room . In the late 1800 s , more improvements were made , especially by the English plumber Thomas Crapper . The toilet became similar to the one in use today . It was only in the early 20 " century that the first toilets were put in private houses . The Printing Press Before the invention of the printing press , scribes copied most books by hand . A few books were printed using a method called wood engraving . However , this was a very slow process and not many books were printed in this way . In 1450 , Johannes Gutenberg ( 1397-1468 ) developed a mechanical method of printing using movable type . Each letter . or piece of type , was made from wood . The printer used the pieces of type to form words . Then he printed the page . The first book printed in this way was the Bible and is known as the Gutenberg Bible . Improvements were made to this kind of printing , and it was used until the early 20 * century . Today , printing is computerized . The Fax Most people consider the fax machine to be a modern invention but sending images from place to place actuall lh y began in the middle of the 19 century . In 1843 in England , Alexander Bain invented the first fax machine . Two pens were connected to two pendulums * . The pendulums were joined to a wire , which could reproduce writing on an electrical surface . Over the years , new technology and developments were introduced but these fax machines were big , expensive and difficult to operate . In 1966 , a smaller , lighter fax machine was introduced by the Xerox Company . It was easier to use and could be connected to any telephone line . By the early 1980 s , fax machines became available to the general public . Today , fax machines can be found in most offices and many homes . * pendulum —a weighted rod that is hung from a fixed point so that it swings freely . The full name of the fax machine is the "telefacsimile" machine . The word facsimile means an exact copy . An image is read by the fax machine . Then it is sent over a telephone line , received by another fax machine and printed out .
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