First commercial oil well
1859 CE • Pennsylvania
"Edwin L. Drake traveled to Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1857 as an agent of the Seneca Oil Company of Connecticut. His mission was to find and produce crude oil in quantities that would make it commercially successful for refining into kerosene. With the help of salt well driller and blacksmith William (Uncle Billy) Smith, Drake adapted and used salt well technology to drill for oil. On August 27, 1859, the Drake Well struck oil at 69½ feet, giving birth to an industry that has forever shaped our modern world."
"Site History," Drake Well Museum and Park.
Image: Metilsteiner, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
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