# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/alexander-cumming
# Generated: 2026-08-13T23:22:31.242Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/alexander-cumming"
name: "Alexander Cumming"
slug: "alexander-cumming"
description: "Alexander Cumming FRSE was a Scottish watchmaker and instrument inventor, who was the first to patent a design of the flush toilet in 1775, which had been pioneered by Sir John Harington, but without solving the problem of foul smells. As well as improving the flush mechanism, Cummings included an S-trap to retain water permanently within the waste pipe, thus preventing sewer gases from entering buildings. Most modern flush toilets still include a similar trap."
tagline: "British inventor"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Alexander_Cumming_Clockmaker.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Scientists"
  slug: "scientists"
profileType:
  name: "Scientist"
  slug: "scientist"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1733"
deathDate: "1814-03-08"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           47.21
  momentum:             7.199999999999999
  historical:           7.032076
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     45
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "RISING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
sources:
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cumming"
    title: "Alexander Cumming"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cumming"
    title: "Alexander Cumming"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cumming"
    title: "Alexander Cumming"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cumming"
    title: "Alexander Cumming"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cumming"
    title: "Alexander Cumming"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cumming"
    title: "Alexander Cumming"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cumming"
    title: "Alexander Cumming"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://mg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cummings"
    title: "Alexander Cummings"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q322034"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump