The COVID-19 lockdown has changed the way we live … and the way we buy. In the U.S., first-quarter sales of consumer packaged goods (CPG) were $23.7 billion higher than the same period a year ago: higher, in fact, than the CPG sales growth over the entire 2019 calendar year.

Americans have modified not only *how much* they purchase, but also *what* they’re buying. “You can definitely see that as people have stayed home, their focus shifted,” said Walmart CEO Doug McMillon.

When the shutdowns began, true panic purchasing kicked in. The first things to fly off the shelves (in stores and online) were protective face masks, toilet paper, and disinfectant cleaning products. Nielsen reported that, during the first week of March, hand sanitizer sales rose 470 percent from the same period in 2019. Bath tissue, facial tissue, and paper towels all saw triple-digit sales increases during the second week of March, and aerosol disinfectant sales skyrocketed by 519 percent.

While these types of panic purchases were somewhat expected, it’s been fun to see what else consumers have been buying up during their weeks of quarantine.

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10 Elastic

At the beginning of the quarantine, there was a lot of controversy about face masks. Celebrities were donning N95 masks, while healthcare providers were going without. Medical experts advised others against wearing face masks but later recommended that all frontline workers and shoppers wear them.

As such, basic face masks were hard to come by. So, people got creative.”How to make your own face mask” videos and tips flooded social media. Masks were crafted from bandanas, scarves, t-shirts, socks, and bra cups. Most of the DIY masks required elastic to function effectively.

The shortage continued, and folks stepped up to make masks not just for themselves but for those in need as well. A call for volunteers from Joann stores has thus far collected more than 114 million “Masks for America.” Singer donated sewing machines to fashion designers and hospitals to boost mask supplies for frontline workers.

It’s no surprise then that elastic continues to hold the top spot on Amazon’s best sellers in arts, crafts, and sewing. Those homemade masks aren’t going to stay up on their own!^[1]

9 Baby Wipes

With hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes so difficult to come by, consumers are turning to baby wipes to keep the virus at bay. Currently, more than half of Amazon’s best-selling baby products are wipes. This is a new dynamic, as sales of disposable baby products had been slowing, thanks to declining birth rates. (Perhaps several weeks in quarantine will result in an uptick of new babies in about nine months or so!)

It is worth noting that most baby wipes will not guard against the coronavirus. In order for a “sanitizing” wipe to protect from germs, bacteria, and viruses, it must contain 70 percent isopropyl alcohol. Consumers may be better served by keeping paper towels in a coffee can filled with a bleach solution.^[2]

8 Yeast

SSA & Company, a global management consultant, estimates that–thanks to the lockdown–between 35 and 40 percent of consumers are eating home-cooked meals for the first time.

Sales of baking products increased during the second half of March. Surprisingly, baking yeast sales increased by 647 percent, more than any other consumer packaged goods product. And spiral hams spiked by 622 percent over the same time in the previous year (boosted, in part, by the approaching Easter holiday).

Amazon’s grocery and gourmet sales during the first week in April were 77 percent higher than they were just two months earlier. The Walmart Grocery app surpassed Amazon by 20 percent and reached an all-time high: as of April 5, average daily Walmart Grocery downloads were up 460 percent over January.^[3]

7 Kitchen Scales

Interestingly, food scales have ranked high on the list of best sellers. As more people are cooking at home, they’re discovering equipment and utensils that make the job easier. All-in-one instant pots, air fryers, and waffle makers have also been in demand, up 7 percent from the previous April. Other “nonessential” kitchen helpers include rice cookers, vacuum sealers, and soda makers.^[4]

6 Portable Ice Makers

Consumers continue to purchase fresh meats and produce from grocery stores and home-delivery services, but they’re also seeking out items that have a longer shelf life
Sales of frozen and shelf-stable fruit, for example, grew nearly five times the rate of fresh fruit in the first three months of 2020.

Chest freezers were the top-selling appliances on Amazon during the first month of quarantine. This is a response to the initial concerns that supermarkets would run out of food (especially meat). The freezers can also be used to safely store the increasing amounts of food that are now being prepared at home. A vacuum sealer (see #5) is a great add-on to a freezer.

Now that the freezers are in place, portable ice maker machines are dominating the appliances category. Consumers can’t get out to the bars, and they’re wary of drive-through iced coffees and convenience store fountain drinks. So they are opting to make their own refreshing beverages at home.^[5]

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5 Eyebrow Razors

Because more people are staying home, overall sales of beauty products (along with apparel) have gone down–about 50 percent year-over-year. But remote workers want to be presentable for Zoom meetings. So, as salons and barber shops were shuttered, consumers sought out products that would enable them to groom their own hair.

Sales of hair clippers increased 166 percent, and hair color rose 23 percent. “People are starting to need a haircut,” McMillon said in April. “You see more beard trimmers and hair color and things like that. It’s interesting to watch the dynamic play out.”

Women’s eyebrow razors are currently among Amazon’s top five beauty and personal care category, as salon waxing and tweezing serves are suspended. Sales of men’s nose and ear hair trimmers peaked and are now on the decline. Fortunately, nose whiskers are slow-growing.^[6]

4 Ping Pong Paddles

After urgently addressing their personal protection, food, and grooming needs, consumers looked for ways to fill the hours being spent at home. Puzzles (which were actually trending before COVID-19), colored pencils, and games (Jenga or Connect 4, anyone?) have been in high demand, purchased for at-home use (as well as to send to Grandma and Grandpa to encourage them to stay put). Weirdly, ping pong paddles stand out, as sales are up 89 percent!

As the weather warms, outdoor gems like bubbles, wading pools, and sidewalk chalk are flying off Amazon’s shelves. Exercise apparel and equipment are on the rise, too. Even bird watching items (seed, feeders) were up 91 percent as of early April.^[7]

3 Tailbone Relief Cushions

As of late March, about 16 million U.S. knowledge workers began working remotely, converting kitchen islands and dining room tables into home offices. Weeks later, that number is likely much higher.

These telecommuters are burning through personal supplies of copy paper and printer ink and turning to Amazon, Walmart, Staples, and other office supply stores for reams of paper, boxes of envelopes, and packages of high-yield ink cartridges. Packaging tape, Sharpies, and tailbone pain relief cushions round out the top ten.^[8]

2 Sticks, Switches, and Dots

For anyone stuck at home, there’s the comfort of home entertainment. Gaming, streaming, and binge watching help to fill the days but are frustrating (if not impossible) without the right equipment.

BGR (Boy Genius Report) rounded up the top-selling electronics among its readers “because everyone is looking for new toys to play with while sheltering in place.” The site found that AirPods are hugely popular, even more so now that they’re selling at the lowest prices ever. But their popularity pales in comparison to Amazon’s real top sellers. Could that mean that families are removing their earbuds in favor of communicating with family?

Streaming media players (or streaming sticks) are hands-down the best-selling electronic. They topped the charts at the start of the lockdown and remain the solid frontrunner. The Roku Streaming stick and the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K can each be had for under $50.

The Nintendo Switch Lite, which was temporarily off the best-seller list only because it was out of stock, is the best of the handheld gaming devices. It can be had now in just about any color, but mostly in pre-owned condition.

The Echo Dot is like having another person in the house. One of Amazon’s best-selling devices of all time, it helps users do just about anything with a mere voice command. Check the weather or top news stories. Request favorite songs. Set thermostats and oven timers. Buy multiple Dots and talk to the rest of the family who are hiding out in their own rooms during lockdown! Because, with or without earbuds, everybody’s still doing their own thing.^[9]

1 Poop Bags

Many animal lovers never adopt because they’re not at home enough to adequately care for their pets. But quarantines and lockdowns make it possible to bring in a furry friend!

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Los Angeles saw a 70 percent increase in animals going into foster care. New York City pet shelters experienced a sudden rush of adoptions and fosters. Muddy Paws Rescue and Best Friends Animal Society reported that the shelters they work with were nearly out of cats and dogs: applications were up ten-fold by the end of March. “For the moment, we definitely don’t have any dogs left to match” with foster volunteers,” said Muddy Paws marketing director Anna Lai. “Which is a great problem to have.”

And while the stock market suffered, shares of Chewy Inc. and PedMed Express Inc. soared. Both were up 7 percent by the end of the first quarter. Chewy, with a home-delivery model that is tailor-made for a lockdown, saw a 35 percent increase in sales. And pet supplies (food, litter) are more or less recession-proof.

Meanwhile, over at Amazon, pet nail clippers, flea medicine, fur trimmers, and poop bags top the best-sellers list. Sales leveled off in April as consumers used up their panic-purchase stockpiles, but they remain solid.

Let’s just hope that quarantine foster parents hang on to their newfound pets after the economy gets back up and running again.^[10]

Top 10 Unsolved Mysteries Of The COVID-19 Pandemic

Do you remember when you were curious about what happens when the toilet is flushed? If you were cheeky enough, you might have even flushed a toy or two to see whether they would magically disappear. In most cases, they were lost forever!

Well, it’s no secret that we’ve all had our fair share of close calls and scares at the toilet bowl, whether by mistake or by crooked planning. While most of us have dropped small items like coins or trinkets down the toilet, plumbers around the world can confirm that if you dig into the drain, you’ll be either fascinated or disgusted.

This list of the top 10 weirdest objects flushed down the toilet reveals that trips to the loo can turn crazy in a fraction of a second.

10 A Goldfish Grows to the Size of its Tank

All kids who watched Pixar’s “Finding Nemo” (2013) learned that all drains lead to the ocean. But as adults, we know that this is far from the truth. When many fish owners stress over disposing of unwanted fish, some make the mistake of flushing them down the toilet drain.

In a strange discovery by Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper (BNW), when goldfish are disposed of incorrectly, they can undergo strange transformations. According to the nonprofit organization, a goldfish that might have been flushed down the drain grew to about 14 inches! This is pretty gigantic for the small breed.

Despite the goldfish surviving the harsh conditions in the drain, the discovery revealed that flushing might not be the best option for freeing a fish.

9 Counterfeit Poker Chips Worth $2.7 Million

If you’ve ever been to Vegas or any other casino in your town, you know that hitting jackpots and winning loads of cash is one of the best feelings in the world. But, while most gamblers see the fun in honest gaming, one player made headlines when he decided to use fake poker chips.

In Atlantic City, New Jersey, a man showed up to a 2014 poker event with fake poker chips worth $2.7 million. During the event, the meticulous schemer proceeded to play with his fake chips, winning about $6,814.

Later, perhaps from the fear of getting caught, he proceeded to flush the chips down the toilet drain in his room, a decision he would live to regret. The fake chips clogged the hotel’s pipes. After tournament personnel and the police intervened, they ended up catching him.

8 Man Caught Trying to Dump Drugs Down the Toilet

In movies, police raids are a hectic affair and once the door is “kicked down,” the “bad guys” have only a few minutes to dispose of their illegal drugs. In Auburn, police arrested a man who was trying to flush his pills down the drain.

During the raid, where police recovered mushrooms, fentanyl, Xanax, and cocaine, the man was caught in his toilet trying to dispose of the evidence. While the criminal mastermind failed in his mission, he is not the first to attempt this quick form of drug disposal.  

Experts often advise against flushing drugs in toilets since, even though they won’t clog the drains, they contaminate waters and create harmful effects for life in waterways.  

7 Millions, or Maybe Billions, of LEGO Bricks

Whether they are playing or just acting out, kids just love to throw any kind of object down their toilet drains. In 2016, a survey estimated that British children had flushed over 2.5 million square Lego bricks down the drain.

While the study revealed that kids in the UK are mischievous, they are not the only ones that think flushing things down the toilet is a fascinating pasttime. For most plumbers around the world, unclogging toilet drains usually leads to the discovery of favorite and hated toys of all kinds.

Now you see it, now you don’t! It seems that kids are truly mystified by objects magically disappearing in front of their eyes.

6 Golden Wedding Ring Encrusted with Diamonds

In the western world, rings are considered the symbol of relationships. For couples, wearing them is a sign of their union and that they treasure each other. So when a woman from New Jersey lost her diamond ring, it was both emotionally painful and overwhelming.

Paula Stanton received a gold ring encrusted with several diamonds for her 20^th wedding anniversary, an accessory she always wore with pride. But when she was cleaning one day, her ring slipped from her fingers and fell down the toilet to her shock and disappointment.

After efforts to retrieve the ring proved fruitless, Paula and her husband gave up, even purchasing a replacement. Remarkably, nine years later, a plumber discovered the ring only 400-feet away from her house. After being rejoined with her ring, the overjoyed woman remarked that the ring didn’t want to leave her family!

5 French Queen’s Hairpin

Being a member of the royal family might be one of the most exciting gigs ever and for modern scholars, learning about their lives is even more intriguing. Custodians at a Parisian royal residence were shocked to find a lavish piece of jewelry that belonged to Queen Catherine de Medici in the communal toilet.

The discovery of the 9 centimeter-pin, which had the Queen’s signature interlocking “Cs,” was a welcome surprise for the archaeologists. As a 16^th century artifact, the toilet is the last place anyone would look to find it.

The unearthing marked the first time that any possessions of Queen Catherine were found at Fontainebleau Palace. Over the centuries, most belongings of royalty have either been lost or stolen, making the piece a most valuable treasure.

4 Live World War II Bomb that was Ready to Explode

Have you ever eaten spicy food that didn’t sit well with your stomach? Sometimes, a trip to the bathroom can be quite explosive. Believe it or not, residents of Stockport, Manchester, were shocked when someone found a real-life World War II bomb in a toilet.

After someone reported seeing a “strange device” to the police, quick investigations revealed that it was a live bomb left over from WWII. To ensure that it didn’t go off, the police quickly secured the area surrounding the toilet and evacuated everyone to safety.

With the intervention of a bomb squad, the three-inch mortar the bomb squad carefully retrieved and took it to a nearby location where they detonated it. The controlled explosion made sure that the dangerous device posed no further harm.

3Woman’s $8,500 Rolex Went Down the Drain

Watches are used to tell time but if we are being honest, they are better known as indispensable fashion accessories. A woman from Chino Hills, California, was distraught when her fancy $8,500 Rolex went, “plop,” down the drain, just as she flushed!

After overcoming the initial horror of realizing that her precious wristwatch had disappeared, the woman called plumbers to help locate it. Unfortunately, after launching a serious search, the precious gift was nowhere to be found and after some time, she reconciled with the fact that the gift was lost.

In a wonderful twist of events, 18 months later, a plumber that was involved in the original search was working a mile downhill when he discovered a Rolex amidst the debris. Recalling the previous search, the plumber contacted the owner who was overjoyed at the surprise recovery. The amazing thing is that after a good polishing, the Rolex was as good as new and only missed one stone! Imagine that.

2 Janitor Found Loads of Money on the Toilet

You’ve probably heard that money doesn’t grow on trees but in Australia, you can find it in the toilets too. While doing his daily cleaning rounds, a janitor, discovered wands of cash in a toilet trash can and noticed that even more notes were sticking out of the bowls. These were $50 and $100 bills and at first, he thought it was just a prank.

But after touching the cash and realizing it was real, the janitor rushed to report the matter to the police. In the ensuing investigation, police found that a mysterious individual had dumped a total of $93,000 down the toilet!

When the police failed to explain the origins of the cash, the judge decided that the janitor should get a share of his catch. The most honest janitor in the world kept $76,000 while the rest was awarded to the state! Would you have done the same thing?

1 Kid Used a Toilet Bowl as a Jacuzzi for his Puppy

Have you ever looked at the toilet bowl and thought, “This could make a really cute jacuzzi?” If you’ve never had this idea, you’ll be amazed that a four-year-old boy decided to give his pup a special bath on the toilet.

Using the toilet bowl as a miniature bathtub, Daniel Blair from Middlesex, London washed his best friend after a muddy walk in the neighborhood. Sadly, the little kid ended up flushing the puppy down the drain while rinsing him off!

Luckily for them, a plumber was quick to locate the puppy in the drainage pipes using special camera equipment, making a quick rescue possible. You can bet that the duo never looked at the toilet seat the same way ever again!

Everyone knows that Elvis died on the toilet, and there have been many celebrity bathroom-related deaths since. Dying on the pot is not just a modern phenomenon, however.

While it may seem an ignominious end to a life, there have been plenty of people throughout history who have had to suffer the indignity of being found dead on the toilet. And, although you may not be able to cheat fate entirely, if you have enemies, you may find it wise to check your toilet bowl for danger before sitting down to relieve yourself. Here are ten people from history who died on the toilet.

10 Duke Jing Of Jin

Duke Jing was the ruler of the province of Jin, one of the strongest states in China, from 599 BC until his untimely death in 581 BC. He is said to have had a nightmare, following which his personal shaman predicted his untimely death before he had time to “eat the new grain.”

The duke, being the superstitious sort, immediately fell ill and called for a doctor. Further dreams told him that the cause of his illness (personified in the form of two boys) would be found somewhere between his diaphragm and his heart. When the doctor arrived, he confirmed the diagnosis from the dream.

Jing, in an effort to beat his curse, ate the new grain before it was fully ripe. Then, feeling fine, he executed his shaman. For a while, the duke believed that he had cheated the curse, but the unripe grain began to ferment in his stomach/ Hurrying to the toilet, he fell into the privy pit and drowned in the slurry below.^[1]

9 King Edmund II Of England

King Edmund II (nicknamed Edmund Ironside) was king of England for just seven months in 1016. He raised an army to fend off invasions by the Danish invader Canute (aka Cnut the Great). However, after a siege in London, Edmund was finally defeated. At the Treaty of Alney, Canute allowed Edmund to retain lands in Wessex in return for a peace agreement.

Not long after that, Edmund passed away. Some say he died of natural causes. However, Henry of Huntingdon’s account of Edmund’s death states that when Edmund answered the call of nature, he was stabbed twice from below by an assassin concealed in the pit beneath the toilet seat. The assassin left the knife, which had ruptured Edmund’s bowel, protruding from the king’s rear end while he made his escape.^[2]

Painful.

8 Godfrey IV, Duke Of Lower Lorraine

In 1076, Duke Godfrey, or Godfrey the Hunchback as he was known, made a trip to the toilet “because of his natural need.” Godfrey was a military man who waged war on behalf of Emperor Henry IV of Germany, so it is fair to say he had enemies.

Normally a careful man, he could not have foreseen that when he attended to this natural need, he would be attacked with a “cruel pointed weapon” from below just as he began to stand up again. It is believed that one of the guards surrounding the house had been paid to stand beneath the toilet pit with a spear or long sword.

The duke is said to have lingered for a week before finally dying of his wounds, though it is probably fair to say that he thought twice before attending to any natural needs after that.^[3]

7 King George II

George II acceded to the British throne in 1727, though he was German. He was not a popular king. When he was only a prince, he quarreled with his father and most of his advisers, and he is even said to have hated his own son. He disliked Britain and spent so much time back in his native Germany that his subjects called him “the king who wasn’t there.” He did love his wife, though. He never remarried after she died, and after his own death, he was buried next to his wife, and the sides of their coffins were removed so that their remains could “mingle.”^[4]

Despite his curmudgeonly nature, however, George II lived to a ripe old age. Finally, not long before his 77th birthday, the king, while paying a visit to the little king’s room, died quietly of an aortic dissection sitting on his commode, or “close stool,” as it was termed (“stool” being the operative word).

6 Catherine The Great

While death on a toilet is often seen as a somewhat degrading way to die, Catherine the Great would probably have been glad for people to believe she had died that way, because it was far less demeaning than some of the rumors that were flying around Saint Petersburg after her death.

Having married into the Russian royal family in 1745, Catherine had a fairly rocky start to her marriage. For eight years, she failed to conceive a child, and it was rumored that her husband was unable, or unwilling, to consummate their marriage. So, in 1754, when she finally gave birth to a child, the court gossip suggested that the father was, in fact, a Russian soldier with whom she had developed a recent friendship. Catherine herself appeared to encourage the rumors, though whether they were true is still up for debate. However, it is all but certain that none of her three subsequent children were fathered by her husband.

Catherine was certainly ruthless, conspiring to overthrow her husband just six months after he became tsar, forcing him to abdicate and leaving her the sole ruler of Russia. It is unclear whether Catherine was complicit in her husband’s murder a short time later.

Catherine was famous for taking lovers during her reign, showering them with gifts of land and servants. Perhaps it was this reputation that fueled the rumors about the manner of her death. Her enemies at the court, in an attempt to damage her reputation, claimed that she had died engaging in a sex act with a horse. That’ll do it.

The other assertion made at the time was that she died from a stroke on the toilet. That’s much more mundane and much more possible. Officially, she died in her bed a day after suffering the stroke.^[5]

5 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad founded the Islamic religious movement Ahmadiyyah in India. Born in 1835, Ghulam Ahmad claimed to hear revelations from God, and in 1889, he declared that God had entitled him to receive an oath of allegiance from his followers.

He soon had a small group of devoted disciples, and his following steadily increased, along with opposition from traditional Islamists. Ghulam Ahmad claimed that he was a mahdi (“savior”), a reincarnation of the Prophet Muhammad and also Jesus Christ and the Hindu god Krishna, all rolled into one, which is impressive.

At the end of 1907, Ghulam Ahmad claimed to have received several revelations informing him of his imminent death. In May 1908, the day before he died, he wrote his final tract, entitled “A Message of Reconciliation.” Ghulam Ahmad had been suffering from dysentery for some time and died in the bathroom at the home of his friend and doctor of complications arising from acute diarrhea. However, this is disputed by some of his followers because the cause of death did not match those of his visions. And also because diarrhea is rather an ignoble death for a prophet.^[6]

4 Uesugi Kenshin

Uesugi Kenshin was a Japanese warlord until his death in 1578. He was famous for his military prowess and his bitter rivalry with Takeda Shingen, who he met in battle at least five times. Though the two were rivals, it seems they came to respect each other as adversaries, and Kenshin was given a highly prized sword by Shingen. The two eventually became allies and friends.

In later years, after the death of Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin took up arms against Oda Nobunaga, the most powerful warlord in Japan. Though he secured a number of tactical victories against his opponent, his health was declining rapidly, and in a death not at all befitting a hero, Uesugi Kenshin suffered a stroke while using the potty and died a few days later.

Unsatisfied with such a lackluster end to the war, many people, including Oda Nobunaga, attempted to rewrite the events with stories of hidden ninjas, but his death seems to have been of entirely natural causes.^[7]

3 Edward II

King Edward II was murdered at Berkeley Castle in 1327, in a manner that can only be described as eye-watering.

While a young man, Edward was thought to have had intimate relationships with a male friend at the court. On being discovered, his father banished the lover “on account of the undue intimacy which the young Lord Edward had adopted towards him.” The lover was later murdered, leading Edward to wage several wars in retaliation.^[8]

Edward’s wife, Isabella, unhappy at her husband’s behavior, plotted against him with her lover. Edward was captured and forced to abdicate his throne. It is said, though it cannot be proved, that Edward was murdered in the bathroom of Berkeley Castle by having a red-hot poker inserted into his anus, as a punishment for his homosexuality, and that his screams could be heard miles away.

2 Wenceslas III Of Bohemia

King Wenceslas III acceded to the throne of Bohemia in 1305. He was already king of Hungary and aspired to the Polish throne, although, so as not to seem greedy, he did give up his right to be king of Austria. At the time of his accession, he was only 15 years old.

The last king of Bohemia, Wenceslas was murdered in 1306, the last in the male line of the powerful Premyslid dynasty. He is often described as well-educated, though a little too much inclined to drinking and partying rather than ruling his sizeable kingdom. His rival, Charles Robert of Anjou, under the protection of the pope, maneuvered to become the Hungarian king, and the Hungarian crown was eventually ceded to him.

In 1306, Wenceslas arrived in the town of Olomouc, where he resided in the deanery. It has been claimed that Ladislaus the Short, the king of Poland, fearing that Wenceslas was plotting to overthrow him, sent assassins to murder him. Wenceslas was said to be sitting in his garderobe (a room with a toilet which emptied into the lake below) when the assassins found him and stabbed him to death. He was 16.^[9]

1 King Eglon

The story of King Eglon is one of the stranger tales to be found in the Bible. Although many biblical characters can be traced through history, little is known of King Eglon. He has been described in the Talmud as being the grandson of the Moab king, Balak, who tried to destroy the Israelites by luring them into adultery. Well, if you have to go . . .

According to the Old Testament, the Israelites had been sold into slavery under King Eglon, so God sent Ehud to deliver them. He paid Eglon tribute and later visited the king in his “private chamber,” hiding a large double-edged sword beneath his robes. King Eglon, who was a rather heavy man, rose “from his seat,” whereupon Ehud stabbed him with the sword, ramming it into his belly until the hilt of the sword disappeared beneath the folds of his flesh.

Ehud then escaped, and Eglon’s servants, observing a certain odor emanating from the king’s private chamber, assumed that the king was occupied and left him in peace. While they waited patiently for the king to finish his business, Ehud led his men into battle and slaughtered King Eglon’s army while they were still hanging around waiting for the king to finish up so that they could get their orders.^[10]

Ward Hazell is a writer who travels, and an occasional travel writer.

It is a truth universally ignored that a human on the toilet is at their most vulnerable. The worst that usually happens, though, is that there is a knock at the front door, your cat wanders in to look at you, or you run out of toilet paper. However, sometimes, something far worse than you can ever imagine happens while you are on the throne.

Here are ten catastrophic toilet events you should probably not think about if you are a nervous pooper.

Related: Top 10 Fascinating Facts About Toilet Paper

10 Python in the Pan

Many people have a fear of being watched when they are on the toilet. Usually, though, this is a fear of someone peeking through the ridiculously large gaps on the doors in American public restrooms. Sometimes, however, it is not a human eye that might be peeping at you. Instead, there have been cases of rats, squirrels, and frogs all emerging from the U-bend at the back of toilets. You might even find a spider clinging to the bottom of the seat. But one man in Thailand had perhaps the worst toilet guest.

While sitting on the toilet in 2016, Atthaporn Boonmakchuay reportedly felt a “sharp bite” on the end of his penis. Looking down between his legs, he spotted a 3.4-meter-long (11-foot-long) python that had just taken a bite out of his rather more modest python. Somehow managing to think clearly in what must have been a distressing situation, Atthaporn tied the snake’s head to the door with a rope before seeking help. Screaming for his wife, he collapsed from blood loss.

Atthaporn was rushed to hospital and made a full recovery. The snake was still wedged in the toilet when emergency services arrived. The toilet had to be smashed with hammers to get the snake out. It has since been released into the wild to look for fresh toilets to hunt in.^[1]

9 Murdered Monarchs

If you were a king in the Middle Ages, the chances of an assassin getting to you were rather limited. Commoners and strangers were excluded from the court, and you would likely have many strong knights around you sworn to protect you. So for an assassin to strike, they would have to get to you in one of the rare occasions you were alone.

Jaromir, Duke of Bohemia, had quite the exciting life. He rose up against one of his brothers who was king, and for his treachery, he was castrated and cast out of his domain. Later regaining his Dukedom, Jaromir was once again thrown out and blinded for his troubles. He did not suffer for long, however. While sitting on the toilet, an assassin with a spear stabbed him through the belly and left Jaromir to bleed out on the bathroom floor.

Other rulers like Godfrey the Hunchback and King Edmund Ironsides are also said to have met their maker in toilets. In one telling, Edmund was shot in the posterior by someone below while using the toilet. It struck him so hard that not even the feathers of the arrow showed.^[2]

8 Pop-up Toilet

Sometimes you don’t even have to be on the toilet for disaster to strike. You can be minding your own business when one pops up to ruin your day. For a man in Amsterdam in 2014, one literally popped up.

Like many European city centers, Amsterdam has a problem with late-night revelers with full bladders who do not have anywhere to relieve themselves. So to stop public urination and save space, toilets were installed that can retract into the ground and only emerge at night.

For one unfortunate man on a moped, however, one pop-up toilet popped up a bit precipitously. One witness described it as an explosion. The toilet launched the man and his moped into the air. Luckily, the man was only treated for minor injuries, though his moped was badly damaged. Whether the surprise of the sudden trip to the toilet made him wet himself was not recorded.^[3]

7 Erfurt Latrine Disaster

Surprise trips to the toilet can have disastrous outcomes. For example, in 1184, the king of Germany, Henry VI, invited his nobles to a meeting at a fortress in Erfurt. The meeting was designed to allow the king to settle a dispute on his lands, but several of the lords present would suffer a terrible landing.

The lords and nobles gathered before the king in the church of the fortress while the king sat in splendor before them. Just as the aristocratic guests took their seats, the wooden floor of the church gave way under their weight. They plummeted down into a latrine underneath them.

Suddenly plunged into a liquid slurry of human waste, the assembled lords and retainers were drowned or suffocated by fumes. Sixty people are said to have died in the disaster that is known in German as the Erfurter Latrinensturz—”Erfurt Latrine Fall.” King Henry survived because he was sitting on a section of the stone floor, and so escaped the fall.^[4]

6 Eglon

Today, going to the toilet is a fairly solitary activity. Unless something exciting is happening in a cubicle, we are likely alone on the throne. In the ancient world, this was not always the case. Roman toilets often featured long benches with holes cut in them. People using the facilities were likely packed in cheek to cheek—literally.

In the Book of Judges in the Bible, there is a story that shows how dangerous going to the toilet together could be. God has had one of his fits of pique and is angry with the Israelites, so he sets an evil king called Eglon to rule them. To free the Israelites from Eglon, a “left-handed” man named Ehud straps a sword to his thigh and hides it under his clothes before visiting the king.

Ehud tells Eglon that he has a secret message for the king, and the pair are left alone. Ehud then drives his sword through Eglon’s enormous stomach. Eglon is so corpulent that the “fat closed over” the sword, and he could not get it out. Eglon then discharges his bowels and dies. Ehud flees. Eglon’s servants do not check on the king for a long time because they assume he is just using the toilet for a long time, as was usual for him.^[5]

5 Collapsing Toilets

The Ig Nobel prizes are annual awards designed to celebrate the weirder aspects of science and culture, as opposed to the serious Nobel prizes. Previous winners have been “honored” for their work on levitating frogs with magnets, working out why toast always falls buttered side down, and calculating the mechanics of dipping a biscuit in tea.

In 2000, a team won the Public Health prize for a paper called “The Collapse of Toilets in Glasgow.” The amusing topic and title of the article apparently snared the winners their prize. The paper actually deals with the real danger that collapsing toilets can cause. Three cases of toilets shattering while being used and causing hospitalization were studied. The conclusion of the study was that old toilets were the most dangerous.

The winners of the Ig Nobel prize took their victory in good spirits. They were glad that their research was not just a “flash in the pan.”^[6]

4 Electric Throne

In 1978, Michael Anderson Godwin was sentenced to the electric chair for murder and sexual assault. Before he was executed, however, a review of the sentence was carried out that found him innocent of the assault. So Godwin avoided the electric chair—but found another electric seat waiting for him.

While in prison, he was watching his television while using headphones. He was also sitting on his metal toilet. It seems there must have been a problem with his headphones because Godwin began to bite on the cable that connected them to the TV. As soon as his teeth touched the wires within, he was electrocuted.

Godwin died of his injuries and the death was ruled a bizarre accident.^[7]

3 Explosions

If someone says there has been an explosion in the bathroom, they are usually speaking euphemistically. But it turns out that toilets can be surprisingly explosive. The Victorian press had a brief obsession with the gases in their sewers igniting and blowing up their lavatories.

Exploding toilets are more common than we might like to think. In one case, a lightning strike set fire to the methane below one and detonated it.

When it’s not fire that sets them off, it can be the water. In 2018, Flushmate, which makes high-pressure systems designed to reduce water use during flushing, recalled 1.5 million units. This was after a three-million-unit recall in 2012. The problem? The units could, and did, make some toilets explode.^[8]

2 Trapped in the Loo

Most people don’t need to be told not to climb into a toilet, but there are always some who require an explicit warning. In 2016, a Norwegian man dropped his phone into a toilet while urinating. His friend, Cato Berntsen Larsen, did not think twice before leaping into action. He jumped into the toilet feet first and became stuck.

Larsen is apparently a keen amateur diver, but he should perhaps have thought twice before diving this time. The public toilet was not connected to the sewer but rather had a tank that was emptied just once per year. He found himself up to his thighs in sewage. Larsen panicked due to the confined space and vomited. Firefighters were called, and they were able to rescue the unfortunate man by cutting open the toilet.^[9]

The phone was lost forever.

1 U-boat Sinks

Most toilet accidents are only embarrassing for the person involved, but sometimes they can cause international laughter. In 1945, a German U-boat was patrolling off the coast of Scotland. The Second World War was practically over, and the submarine and crew might have reached the end of the conflict without incident. Unfortunately, the captain just had to use the toilet.

U-1206 was one of the most modern vessels in the German navy [LINK 10]. Even its toilets were hi-tech. No more would a submarine have to carry around its own waste—this U-boat used high pressure to vent waste after a toilet was used. This system, however, was only designed to be used when the submarine was on the surface.

Captain Karl-Adolf Schlitt was unfamiliar with the toilet and had to ask an engineer to help flush it. The wrong knob was turned, and suddenly, high-pressure water and sewage flooded the cabin. When the seawater reached the submarine’s batteries, clouds of chlorine gas billowed out. The U-boat was forced to surface, was spotted and attacked by the RAF, and had to be abandoned. Four of the crew drowned, and the rest were taken as prisoners of war. Captain Schlitt had flushed his hopes of victory away.^[10]

The escalating Coronavirus crisis has dominated world news for more than two months. As the world shuts down, whole industries grind to a halt, and we practice “social distancing” (avoiding others) and self-isolating in a bid to halt the spread of the virus. Families are separated as politicians rediscover the benefits of borders and close them, and supermarket shelves are stripped bare. The global economic and personal impact of the virus will be felt for some time.

Top 10 Fascinating Facts About Toilet Paper

However, as well as the serious implications, society has shown we still have the ability to laugh in the face of adversity.

An unexpected side effect of the coronavirus has been a worldwide shortage of one of life’s daily necessities. Toilet paper has become the new “Buttcoin” as shoppers around the world face empty shelves in the toilet tissue aisle.

In an inexplicable panic-buying phenomenon not seen since tulip bulbs were all the rage, shoppers have been stockpiling trolley loads of toilet paper instead of food in preparation for a lockdown. What anyone will do with two years’ supply of bathroom tissue is unfathomable.

With supplies of paper products stripped bare, shoppers queue for hours for just one roll of two-ply, reminiscent of scenes from WWII rationing. Riots over toilet paper and extra security surrounding this sought-after commodity are becoming commonplace, with social media memes becoming funnier each day.

As shoppers around the world grapple with the unique crisis, some hilarious news stories began to surface of humorous responses to the great toilet paper crisis.

10 Sinking Supplies

Most of us know that sinking feeling when we arrive at the supermarket too late to grab our emergency supplies. Many of us even resort to setting the alarm to join the early morning queue, only to have our hopes dashed by empty shelves.

Two Los Angeles musicians recently brought a note of light-hearted humor to the situation. Bemused shoppers watched as the two professional violinists donned life jackets and headed to the ransacked toilet paper aisle. Without missing a beat, the straight-faced musicians began playing the 9th-century hymn “Nearer my God to Thee” in front of the empty toilet paper shelves.

The parody of the bandmaster’s performance in James Cameron’s 1997 movie “Titanic” went viral as essential supplies continued to sink as quickly as the Titanic.^[1]

9 Toilet Paper Emergency

Nearing the final sheet of loo roll may be a major domestic emergency. However, it seems some people needed reminding that this was not necessarily a life-threatening situation. U.S. police in Newport, Oregon, actually had to issue a public message asking people not to dial 911 because they were out of toilet paper.

Officers assured the public they would survive without police assistance, suggesting old-fashioned remedies to the crisis, such as newspaper or cloth rags.

In Australia however, police have actually had to resort to handing out toilet paper and paper towels at local supermarkets in a bid to ease the emerging “roll-rage” situation.^[2]

8 Pricey Roll

Profiteers are inevitable during every shortage, so it is not surprising that hoarders are now targeting desperate online shoppers to capitalize on their precious loot.

Some, however, have taken to eBay to add a humorous note to the crisis, listing toilet paper for sale as a joke.

In Australia, an NSW man listed a generic brand two-ply roll for AUD 1000 as a send-up of the crisis. Not actually intending to make a sale, he listed the roll at the ridiculous price, thinking he would not even get a bid. However, he was obviously taken seriously and was astounded when a purchaser actually accepted the “buy it now” price, telling news reporters he “didn’t even think anyone would even bid AUD 10 for it.”

In Queensland, a similar joke saw a 24 pack of Kleenex (RRP AUD$15) sell for AUD$500. Neither purchaser has yet to receive full payment for their toilet humor.^[3]

7 Prized Roll

A UK arcade owner had a “loo-crative” idea to highlight the stupidity of people clawing for toilet paper in the supermarket aisles. The frantic scrambles to grasp a loo roll reminded him of the arcade games, where players claw for the chance to win a toy inside the machine.

The East Yorkshire businessman emptied the usual plush toys from these vending machines, where for 30p gamers could claw for the prize of a fluffy bear.

Instead, he filled them with rolls of toilet paper, with seaside visitors flocking for the opportunity to “spend a penny” while securing a somewhat unusual but now popular prize.

Other similar vending machines have joined in on the joke, with some adding hand sanitizer, another sought-after basic personal hygiene product also in short supply to the prize pool.^[4]

6 Have Paper, Will Travel

Well, we all know how important it is to pack everything you need for a long trip. However, if you forget your toothpaste or deodorant, you can always pick up something at the chemist shop at your destination, right? Well, in the panic buying atmosphere that swooped in with the Coronavirus, you might be out of luck. So, on a flight from Melbourne to Japan, one Twitter user noted that another passenger prepared for all contingencies while traveling—even bringing their own toilet paper on the plane.^[5]

I wonder if they had to buy this multi-pack of TP its own ticket?

10 Creative Ways We’ve Gotten Through Wartime Rationing

5 Precious as Gold

A Los Angeles jeweler felt that a roll of toilet paper had become more precious than gold, using the shortage as a clever marketing ploy.

Perhaps hoping his excess stock of rings would clear as fast as a toilet paper delivery, a Nevada jeweler was offering a single roll of quality toilet paper for USD 3,999. While this would seem a little exorbitant even in the current shortage, the deal does include a free one-carat diamond ring.^[6]

4 Forgotten Loot

Hidden treasure is often found when clearing out the homes of elderly relatives. Precious artworks, valuable antiques, hidden loots of jewelry or stashes of cash are often uncovered, But who would think a five year supply of toilet paper would ever be an exciting find?

In Sydney, Australia, a man was trawling through the contents of his late father’s storeroom when he discovered what would have been quite a boring find a few months ago. Stacked in the corner were some 270 rolls of 1980s toilet paper, which his father must have bought in bulk forty years ago and forgotten about.

He was inundated with responses to a Facebook post offering the stash to the desperate or needy.^[7]

3 Should Have Bought 2-Ply

We’ve all witnessed the scenes of greedy shoppers filling trolleys with toilet paper, paper towels, and tissues. “Where on earth will they store it all?” is a frequently asked question.

A UK driver failed to consider when he stacked his van full of the sought-after paper products. When police pulled the driver over in Blackwell, they discovered his selfish loot had placed his vehicle over the legal tare limits. His savings went down the toilet when he was slapped with a GBP 300 fine. Perhaps if he had stuck to two-ply, he might have stayed underweight.^[8]

2 Floral Bouquet

Remember floral toilet paper? Some of the premium brands featured floral printed rolls, with a choice of bouquet scents to enhance your bathroom experience.

If you miss these floral bathroom tributes, for just $75 US, an Arkansas florist will provide you with a blooming bouquet—of toilet rolls.

Just ordinary two-ply, nothing fancy, but these days most of us will grab what we can get. Created from his personal “pre-corona” stash, the extraordinary “floral” tribute contains the usual ribbons and greenery highlighting the bouquet’s centerpiece, multiple rolls of toilet paper. If you get really desperate, you might even be able to resort to using the greenery.^[9]

1 Old-Fashioned “Dunny Squares”

We Australians are known for our cheeky responses to any crisis, with many social media memes reminding us of the benefits of newspaper. Or “dunny squares” as they used to be known in our grandparents’ days.

A Northern Territory newspaper gave its readers a hilarious solution to the toilet paper crisis, maintaining the relevance of print media in the modern world.

Reviving the old tradition of cut-up newspaper hanging from a string on the door of the outdoor loo, the “NT News” printed 8 blank pages for readers to use as an emergency supply. The pages even provided handy cutlines so readers could maximize the capacity of their emergency bog roll supply. Unfortunately the free gift didn’t come with disposal instructions.^[10]

See Also: Top 10 Tips To Prepare For A New Great Depression

While toilet seats are infamous for being the breeding grounds for bacteria, there are many dirtier places in your house that you probably never knew existed. The following list shows common household appliances that are dirtier than your conventional toilet seat.

10. Ice

While ice would appear to be perfectly clean and unsuspecting, it is in fact a major breeding ground for organisms according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. Ice can become soiled through being transported on dirty floors of freezing rooms, carried by soiled human hands, or exposed to unsanitary ice machines. If that wasn’t enough, a study found that 70% of the time, ice served in fast food restaurants across America had more bacteria than toilet water found in most households.  Furthermore, most restaurants across America tend to freeze water for ice out of tap water, leaving many unfiltered particles to remain and be consumed. For this reason, ice makes it to the tenth position on this list.

9. Tables and Desks

Whether being used for art and schoolwork for elementary school children or for important business meetings, tables and desks have on average more than 400 times more bacteria and germs than a toilet seat. This can lead to many serious illnesses, such as smallpox, measles, and the flu. Tables also attract more germs than toilets because of the amount of time hands are placed on desks. In fact, it was reported that the area in which your hands rest on tables and desks can have approximately 10,000 bacteria organisms growing. Furthermore, many office tables are often left unwashed for long periods of time, allowing for bacteria and harmful organisms to grow and develop before spreading. For this reason, tables and desks come in at number nine of this list.

8. Computer Keyboards

Because people tend to use computer keyboards throughout their daily lives, it is no surprise that these devices would make it on the list. Keyboards attract a great amount of bacteria because they are rarely wiped or sanitized on a regular basis. As a result, it was shown in a study by Master Cleaners Ltd that “Keyboards contain 70 percent more bacteria than a toilet seat.” Additionally, because keyboards are commonly used by more than one person in office and classroom settings, viruses and bacteria can move easily from person to person in a short period of time. For example, the Center for Disease reported that the first report of a norovirus was detected on a computer keyboard. The agency also revealed that the norovirus outbreak could have been entirely prevented if people simply cleaned their keyboards frequently and diligently to limit the spread of germs from one computer to another. As a result, computer keyboards are number 8 on this list.

7. Cell Phones

Cell phones can be found nearly everyone traveling from outside their home or outside the country. For that reason, cell phones would naturally be festering with germs and bacteria. In a report by British newspaper Which?, it was reported that of a total of 90 devices tested, there were over six hundred individual organisms of Staphylococcus aureus found on the surface of a cell phone. The bacteria organism Staphylococcus aureus has been known to cause ailments ranging from respiratory tract infection to staph infections. Additionally, because phones are so rarely cleaned, they carry as much as 10 times as many bacteria than your household toilet seat. It is for these reasons that cell phones made the seventh spot on this list. Cell phones are therefore number seven on this list.

6. Kitchen Chopping Boards

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that kitchen chopping boards would contain some degree of bacteria left over from the raw meats sliced on them. However, what is surprising is that it was determined by the FDA that there are 200 times more fecal bacteria on cutting boards than on an actual toilet seat. This bacteria can be very serious to one’s health because it can cause many food-borne illnesses, including salmonella and campylobacter. Also, because kitchen chopping boards are often left out for hours on end, this provides a chance for bacteria to easily grow and spread in a warm environment. Because of this, it can be said that it is safer to prepare meats on a toilet seat than it is on an unwashed kitchen chopping board. For these reasons, kitchen chopping boards come in at number six on this list of top ten dirtier items than a toilet seat.

5. Toothbrushes

Toothbrushes have a bad tendency to stray too close to the toilet seat. Even at the furthest point in the bathroom from the toilet seat, a toothbrush typically wont be more than 4 feet away. Because of this, whenever a toilet is flushed, airborne feces particles get propelled up to 6 feet in distance, according to Chuck Gerba, PhD, professor of environmental microbiology at the University of Arizona. Additionally, toothbrushes on average contain around 10 million microbes, such as germs like influenza viruses, herpes, and even bacteria that can lead to gum disease and cavities. Another reason that makes toothbrushes dirtier than toilets is that the food bacteria can last for days, serving a perfect breeding ground for the microbes. In order to best limit these bacteria particles from harboring on the toothbrush, it is recommended to thoroughly rinse and disinfect toothbrushes often, as well as buying a replacement toothbrush every few years or so. Therefore, toothbrushes come in at number five on this top ten list.

4. Television Remotes

If you’ve stayed in a hotel room, you’ve probably held a television remote that had been held hundreds of times before you. Through a study by Katie Kirsch of the University of Houston, Kirsch and her team found that television remotes in hotels had an average of 67.6 colony-forming units of bacteria per square centimeter. These findings also proved to suggest that housekeepers and hotel maids spend only around 30 minutes per room in a typical shift, often neglecting to clean common items like remote controls. Even when they do clean items like remote controls, room cleaners often spend too little amount of time disinfecting to completely kill off the remaining bacteria growing on the remote. As a result, there is a significant risk for microbial contamination in hotel rooms, as well as spreading the bacteria to a home or office. Television remotes are therefore number four on this top ten list.

3. Mattresses

After ten years of use of a mattress, it has been shown that old mattresses will weigh more than twice the weight of what it was when it was first purchased. The reason? Dust mites and dead skin cells, in addition to bacteria and germs get buried deep into the mattress gradually over time. According to a new study conducted by Check Safety First, it was found that hotel beds are used by thousands of travelers and are never cleaned or disinfected after the high level of use. They reported that often hotels will only change and clean bed sheets and pillow covers, and leave everything else the same. Additionally, hotels often purchase reconditioned mattresses in an effort to save money. These mattresses, however, are often filled with high amounts of dust and flakes of skin, leading to illnesses not even a toilet seat would have. These combined reasons make bed mattresses number three on the list.

2. Money

In a study by Dr. Ron Cutler of the University of London, the biomedical scientist found that out of 200 bills of currency, 26 of the notes contained significant levels and concentrations of bacteria. Additionally, bacteria such as E. coli was discovered, along with Staphyloccus aurenus. Even more concerning, nearly 80 percent of the bank notes used in the study contained some traces of bacteria on them, significantly increasing the potential for  ailments and sicknesses. If that wasn’t enough, a study from the Melbourne’s Public Defender office discovered that a single note of currency had bacteria levels that were 6.4 times greater than readings from restrooms, leading money to be dirtier than toilets. For this reason, money got number two on the list.

1. Kitchen Sponges

The first place spot on this list belongs to the common household kitchen sponge. According to Roxanne B. Sukol, a medical director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness Enterprise, kitchen sponges can contain as much as 10 million individual bacteria organisms per square inch of sponge. In other words, a kitchen sponge can be as much as 200,000 times dirtier than the surface of most toilet seats. The main reason why sponges are dirtier than toilet seats is due to the fact that the sponges are used to clean off food particles from unclean kitchen dishes. However, when the food particles are removed, they tend to stay attached to the sponges, festering bacteria and spreading the organisms to clean dishes. It is therefore best to replace and clean sponges thoroughly before use, decreasing the spread of germs and preventing future illnesses. As a result, kitchen sponges are the number one dirtiest items compared to a toilet seat.