In 2020 when it was hard to find toilet paper in stores, bidets became all the rage in private homes in the US. That wouldn't be possible without the technology that allows the device to be attached to an existing toilet. For hundreds of years, a bidet was something that Americans didn't use, and rarely spoke of, to the point that many people had never encountered one and did not know what they were used for, or how. Bidets were around in Europe long before plumbing was available, although they were only purchased by the upper class and sex workers. Once running water became common, bidets spread through the continent and other parts of the world. By then, Americans had either forgotten them, or considered bidets too foreign or too low class, due to their association with prostitutes.
Eventually, the US got indoor plumbing, but rarely installed bidets. Consider the above picture, from a 1912 ad for bathroom fixtures. We have a shower, sink, bathtub, what looks to be a sitz bath, and a foot-washing sink. You could clean a half-dozen children in there at once! But the toilet is in a separate alcove, with no bidet in sight. The manufacturer obviously thought of everything but a bidet. Or else they didn't think Americans would buy one, even as they tried to sell permanent sitz baths.
At any rate, the preceding paragraph is a departure from the actual history of the bidet, which you can read at Messy Nessy Chic.
(Top image credit: Antekbojar)