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1859:
American investors hired Edwin Drake to use salt mining techniques
to drill at the source of a natural kerosene seep in Titusville,
Pennsylvania. The resulting oil well was 69.5 feet deep and
produced 15 barrels per day.
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1870:
John D. Rockefeller consolidated several small oil production
and refining businesses into one – Standard Oil Company
– and cut a deal with railroad companies to transport
the oil at reduced prices, thereby creating a monopoly that
put small oil companies out of business.
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1901:
Ransome Eli Olds designed the first mass produced car with
a gasoline-powered engine. His Detroit, Michigan plant turned
out 425 “Curved Dash Olds.”
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1905:
Clem Lessing and Harry Grenner opened the first gas station
in St. Louis, Missouri.
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1911:
President William Howard Taft instructed the U.S. Naval fleet
to switch from coal to petroleum as the fuel source.
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1930:
Self-proclaimed geologist Columbus Marion Joiner discovered
the East Texas Oil Field, one of the largest deposits in the
United States.
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1956:
President Eisenhower's signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act
into law. The nation-wide highway system was originally built
to ensure troop mobility in response to the Cold War, but
it also contributed to America’s emerging “highway
culture.” America embraced this culture with enthusiasm
and built roadside motels, drive-in movies, fast food restaurants,
and banks.
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1973:
OPEC limited the supply of oil for sale, dramatically raising
prices.
In 1973, the United States supported Israel in the Arab-Israeli
war. In response, OPEC (an organization comprised primarily
of Arab states) embargoed oil, effectively doubling crude
oil prices.
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1991:
President George H.W. Bush authorized the first drawdown the
Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to stabilize world oil
markets during the Gulf War.
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2001:
For the first time, Car and Driver reported a truck,
the Ford F-Series, as the top-selling vehicle in America.
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2006:
Price of a barrel of oil reached and exceeded $70.
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