The first evidence was uncovered of the razing by fire, of Jerusalem by Roman troops led by General Titus in 70 A.D. upon orders from Caesar. Israeli archaeologist Prof. Nahumn Avigad excavated ruins in the Jewish Quarter of Old Jerusalem, a few hundred yards from the Wailing Wall. Three meters (10 feet) under the earth, he found two rooms with evidence of intense heat and ashes. One was apparently a pharmacy, with beautifully carved stone jars, stone weights, and measuring cups. The second was perhaps a woodworking shop. The coins were found which helped precisely date the event. Despite the destruction, the site was valuable because the objects were found buried there as they had been used.

The first U.S. house to be both solar-heated and radiation-cooled started its system. It was built in Tucson, Arizona by solar physicist Raymond W. Bliss, Jr. (6 Oct 1915 - 7 Nov 2004). The system was built at a cost of nearly $4,000 for labor and materials. It was made using a large slanted slab of steel and glass that converted sunlight into heat, which was directed into the house. Summer cooling used the same ducts and associated fans and controls. The first U.S. house to be completely solar heated was occupied in Dover, Mass. On 24 Dec 1948. That heating system was designed by Dr. Maria Telkes from the MIT Solar Laboratory, used black sheet metal collectors to capture solar energy, stored by the phase-change of sodium sulfate decahydrate in “heat bins.”