June 4, 1872
Robert A Chesebrough receives a patent for Vaseline. The 22 year old noticed that that there was a waxy buildup on well heads on a visit to the Pennsylvania oi fields. This material was called "rod wax" and the oil field workers used it for treatment of minor cuts and abrasions. He took a sample with him, purified it and called it petroleum jelly. You have probably used some of it at some time during your life.
June 6, 1967
The first oil embargo was attempted. One day after the start of the Six Day War, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya and Algeria agreed to stop exporting oil to countries friendly to Israel. The emargo lasted about 2 months before it fell apart. They would get better at it later.
It happens that my family was making a cross country drive during this period. We never noticed any shortage of gasoline.
June 4, 1979
The well "Ixtoc One" blows out in the Bay of Campeche, Mexico. It took almost 10 months to kill it. During this period, the well spewed out over 3 million barrels (126 million gals) of oil making it second only to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
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1 comment:
Good one, and the history of Chesebrough went through to actually make it a success is a fascinating story in itself!!!
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