From a photometric point of view, a color which differs slightly from black always has low relative luminance.

Black is a color, the perception of which is evoked by the total absence of light that stimulates any of the three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye and with very low brightness compared to the surroundings.

Surface treatments to reflect as little light as possible have been developed throughout history, usually based on carbon.

[2] Intensive research to approach the ideal black body (which would absorb all incident electromagnetic radiation) though has emerged mainly in the 21st century.

[9][10] The first recorded use of Davy's gray as a color name in English was in the 19th century (precise date uncertain).

The first use of taupe as a color name in English was in the early 19th century (exact year is not known).

This is one of the colors in the Crayola specialty crayon set called "Gem Tones", introduced in 1994.

Charleston Green#232B2B According to a popular story, the color Charleston green originated after the American Civil War, when the North provided black paint to the South for use in its reconstruction.

The earliest known use of the term to describe a dark shade of greenish black is 1953.

The color licorice (also known as light black)[citation needed] was introduced by Crayola in 1994 as one of the colors in its specialty Crayola Magic Scent crayons with the scent of licorice candy.