Modern toilet paper as a commercial product is usually credited to Joseph Gayetty, who introduced packaged “medicated paper” in the New York City in 1857. His product was sold in flat sheets rather than rolls.

But the actual toilet roll format came later. In 1890, the Scott Paper Company popularized toilet paper on a roll in the United States. Two brothers, Clarence and E. Irvin Scott, are usually associated with this version.

Fun fact: people used all sorts of cursed alternatives before toilet paper became common — newspapers, corn cobs, leaves, wool, seashells (according to some historical accounts), and even old catalogs. Ancient China was actually using dedicated toilet paper centuries earlier, as far back as the 6th century.