History of toothbrush development in Europe
In Europe, toothbrushes were first invented by British cobbler William Allis in London in 1780. William Allis was arrested by the London authorities for inciting riots and then thrown into the infamous new Gate prison. Unlike most prisoners, he is good at thinking about problems with his own brain. One morning, as usual, he was scrubbing his teeth with small pieces of cloth, and an idea suddenly broke into his mind: would it be more convenient and effective to brush teeth with a little brush than to wipe them with a cloth? At dinner, he sneaked a meat bone into his pocket and took it back to his cell, asking for some bristles from a very friendly guard. That night, he grinded the bone into a fine rod, drilled a small hole in it, then thrust the bristles into the holes and trimmed them neatly. In this way, Europe's first toothbrush was born in prison. After leaving the prison, Ellis set up his own toothbrush factory, and he was a great success because people were willing to use toothbrushes instead of the original piece of cloth. Now the company Ellis founded is still producing toothbrushes.