A toothbrush born in prison
A prisoner makes a toothbrush from a dinner bone
Jailed in Newgate in 1770 for rioting, William Addis drilled holes in a bone saved from dinner and tied in bristles. Once free he started making toothbrushes, and by 1780 they were mass-produced.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 18th century
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The mass-produced toothbrush was invented in prison. Jailed in Newgate in 1770, William Addis set bristles in a bone from his dinner; once free, by 1780 he was mass-producing toothbrushes. Share →
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1762 Accession of Catherine the Great — 18 years earlier
- 1764 Founding of the Hermitage — 16 years earlier
- c. 1768 Extinction of Steller's sea cow — 12 years earlier
- 1772–1795 Partitions of Poland — 8 years earlier
- 1783 Russian annexation of Crimea (1783) — 3 years later
Africa
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- 1804–1903 Usman dan Fodio's jihad and the Sokoto Caliphate — 24 years later
- 1805–1848 Muhammad Ali becomes ruler of Egypt — 25 years later
Asia
- 1755–1758 The Dzungar genocide — 25 years earlier
- 1757 Battle of Plassey — 23 years earlier
- 1761 Third Battle of Panipat — 19 years earlier
Americas
- 1776 US Declaration of Independence — 4 years earlier
- 1787 US Constitution — 7 years later
- 1791–1804 Haitian Revolution — 11 years later
- 1803 Louisiana Purchase — 23 years later
Oceania
- 1768–1771 Cook's first voyage — 12 years earlier
- 1788 First Fleet arrives in Australia — 8 years later
Alive at the time
- Benjamin Franklin (aged 74)
- Catherine the Great (aged 51)
- George Washington (aged 48)
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (aged 31)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (aged 24)
- Napoleon Bonaparte (aged 11)
- Ludwig van Beethoven (aged 10)
- Leonhard Euler (aged 73)
- Qianlong Emperor (aged 69)
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