It was the wonderful Benjamin Franklin who discovered that the color black, or color in general, absorbs more light and heat than white. There were some observations that sparked his curiosity. He wondered why people in hotter climates like islands typically found themselves wearing whiter clothes. He also noticed that it was much, much easier to set a piece of paper on fire using magnifying glass if there were some black ink or stain on it. He carried out a multitude of experiments to test this hypothesis and eventually came to the conclusion that the color black absorbs significantly more light and therefore, heat.

'Black lights' are ultraviolet lights - they don't absorb energy; they emit energy. Black color absorbs more light than lighter colors, and this has been known for so long that it's impossible to put a name on it. If you look at traditional Arab dress, for example, it's light-colored robes, and this is because light-colored robes reflect the sun better than dark-colored robes. This has been known in a practical sense probably for as long as people have been living in the Middle East, before the advent of written language.

I think you're talking about black surfaces. They get hotter than white surfaces. When it's sunny and hot, the white lines in the parking lot are cooler on bare feet than the black parts of the parking lot.

So I think a lot of people have discovered that black absorbs heat better than white.