Curious History

Curious History

The History of Swimming Pools

Swimming pools date back to 5000 years and one of the earliest baths was the Mohenjo-Daro public water tank that was in the ancient world. According to researchers, Mohenjo-Daro was built for religious ceremonies. Mohenjodaro which was popularly known as the great baths featured an array of complex benches and steps that were surrounded by a terraced deck. The great bath was built with bricks and fitted with a gypsum finish. It also had the waterproofing membranes just like the modern pools. Romans and Greeks used the baths for luxury from the 6th century. The pools were also used during the preparation for war. Some of the swimming styles we see in modern pools began as early as 1800.

In Greek, the first public baths were known as the palaestras and they were established in 600-800B.C. A philosopher known as Plato advocated for children to be taught how to swim as it was equally important. However, despite the innovativeness of the Greeks, it’s the Romans who took the bath innovativeness to a whole new level. During the first century in the roman made the first heated pool under the supervision of Gaius Maecenas. Heated pools became the standard during the Roman empire in every major city. The multiple pools had elaborate designs and were maintained at different temperatures. The inventors used silver platters which was the first attempt at sanitizing the swimming pools

Pool Design in the Roman empire reached a climax with the building of a 900,000 square foot vessel in 305 AD. Up to date the ruins of the Roman baths can still be seen in Europe with the most revealing, extremely beautiful tiles and stone works

Swimming pools have undergone immersing changes from the simple roman baths to today’s multifaceted backyard pools. Swimming pools are one of the biggest innovation and major evolutionary steps have transformed the simple roman baths into the beautiful water bodies they are today.

Swimming Pools in the USA

In the united states, the first pool was built in 1868 in Cabot street Boston. The area was densely populated, and most homes couldn’t afford a swimming pool back then. The first pool to be built above the ground was built in Philadelphia a club known as the Philadelphia racquet in 1907. In the 20th century, there was a technical advancement in the swimming pool industry that saw a number of technological advancements that led to the construction of first-generation swimming pools. In 1910 the first attempt to sterilize water instead of draining to filter out dirt was done in the US.

Swimming Pools After World War II

After the fall of the Roman empire, there was a period of stagnation in the pool building. However, after the end of world war II, there was a renaissance that brought about the expansion of pools which were majorly decorative. Organized swimming and bathing began in 1800 in Great Britain, a period when swimming competition also began

After the end of world war II, swimming become a status symbol.  pools were considered the ultimate luxury and there were mass builders who came up with pools that up to date is iconic. Antony pools, sylvan pools, and paddock are among the architect builders who came up with swimming pool design to meet the high demand for pools. The main materials that were used to build pools were gunite and concrete. Gunite was invented in 1910 Allen town Penn by Carl E Akley. Gunite allowed the construction of pools cheaply and fast and that made it famous and it was used for multiple purposes. Gunite was used to repair roads, bridges, reservoirs and was used in the military during repairs.

When the war was over Gunite become even more famous because it was cheaper and easy to use and that propelled the swimming industry even further. Middle-class homeowners were now able to own homes and that fuelled more innovations.

In 1948 one of the main architects Thomas Church designed the Donnell pool which was one of the most influential pools located in Sonoma Calif. The pool had a multi-radius design and that gave rise to the modern kidney-shaped pools

The pool industry grew and that brought about the two-piece women bathing suits. The bikini arose out of the need to conserve fabric during the war. In 1947 doughboy recreational began selling above the ground pool kits. After that, the first-ever single piece fiberglass pool shell was built. That led to the proliferation of pools that were built with the alternate materials.

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