The Toothbrush: Invented in a Prison CellTurning a prison dinner bone into a hygiene revolution.

William Addis sat in London’s notorious Newgate Prison, disgusted by the standard practice of scrubbing teeth with soot-stained rags. Inspired by a broom sweeping the dirty floor, he saved a bone from his dinner and bribed a guard for bristles. This act of desperate ingenuity amidst squalor created the modern toothbrush and launched a dynasty.

0:00
2:51