The whoopie cushion goes back to ancient Rome where it was invented by Senator Flatus Maximus in 23 AD.
He took the stomach lining of a Thracian slave named Wupus, pumped it full of air and would set it on his windowsill to act as an alarm against assassins sent by political rivals. He grew very paranoid and used to take it everywhere, including the Senate chamber.
One day, Senator Passus Windus accidentally sat on Flatus's invention, releasing a nasty farting sound that sparked a riot of raucous laughter.
17 people were killed in that riot.
Flatus went on to great wealth mass producing these new novelties, now called Wupus Cushions in honour of the slave he so casually gutted to make the first.
That's the story of the whoopie cushion.
And now you know better.
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