Many people around the world use hot tub spas as a great source of relaxation and recreation. After a long day, there is nothing quite like soaking in a hot tub spa.
But who invented the first ever hot tub? And was it similar to the hot tub spas we use today?
For millennia, people have used hot baths and natural hot springs as places of socialisation, health, and worship. The first recorded use of a hot tub was in calderas.
These hot tubs were heated by dropping red hot hot stones in the water. This trend proved to be relaxing and therapeutic which caught on. This lead to the birth of hydrotherapy where people started to understand and study the benefits of water when used as physical therapy.
Many people throughout history discovered the benefits of the hot tub, all of which took their own approach to the style and heating methods used.
See below for a timeline of the history of hot tubs.
Water bathing rooms - Ancient Egypt – 2000 B.C.
Pools around volcanic springs - The Greeks – 1500 B.C.
Elaborate Roman baths - Romans – 200 B.C.
Wooden soaking tubs - Japanese – 759 A.D.
Hot springs - Native and Early Americans - 1700
Resort Spas – Europe & US - 1880 through 1940
Wooden Hot Tubs – US (Inspired by the Japanese) - 1940 through 1960
Fibreglass and Acrylic Spas – World Wide - 1960 through 1970
Modern Portable Spas – World Wide - 1980 through 1990
Today!
Source: http://www.spadepot.com/hot-tubs-history.htm