History of oil, the

Did you ever wonder how the oil was discovered? In 1852, a Canadian inventor named Abraham Gesner discovered how to make kerosene from crude petroleum. In an age when candles and whale oil provided the only light after sun down, it was a dramatic discovery. Borrowing a page from alcohol distillers, Gesner used the primitive still type system to still and refine crude petroleum by heating it and separating its various elements. Grab your history book now!