Sir John Harington

Sir John Harington (1561–1612) was the son of a gentlewoman who served in Queen Elizabeth 1's privy chamber. The Queen favored John and named him as one of her 102 god children. John grew up to become a poet in the royal court and fell in and out of favor with the queen—his poetry was occasionally risqué, as were his translations, so she would banish him from time to time for being indelicate.

In 1594, John invented a kind of flush toilet called the Ajax, a playful form of the word "jakes," the British term for toilet or privy. He made one for himself and one for the Queen during a period in which she found him acceptable. He wrote a book about it entitled A New Discourse upon a Stale Subject: The Metamorphosis of Ajax. The book, beyond describing the mechanics of the new toilet, included court scenes, family and friends, veiled references to his enemies, and biblical characters. For the sin of once again crossing the line of decency, he lost favor with the Queen.

Some say it is because of the early invention of Sir John Harington that Americans sometimes refer to the toilet as "the john." Others say it is merely a derivative of the older term "jakes." I don't use the term very often either way, but I like the idea of paying tribute to a mischievous poet in the Queen's court. To John Harington, then.