Today in History: The First Modern Oil Well

On this day (August 27) in 1859, the first modern oil well was drilled in Titusville, Pennsylvania. Petroleum was already in use. James Young had patented a process for extracting light and heavy lubricants from petroleum in 1851 and Ignacy Lukasiewicz had discovered how to extract kerosene from seep oil, creating a cheap alternative to whale oil for lighting homes. (My grandmother kept kerosene lamps as decorations long after they stopped using them for light.) With commercial uses for oil becoming more plentiful, the drive was on to find better supplies, so entrepreneurs originally turned to salt miners for help. Petroleum had been a nuisance to salt miners going back at least to the Roman Empire and many refused to actually look for the petroleum, but eventually the entrepreneurs won out and a new industry transformed the modern world.